How many legs does ants have? The answer to the question is obvious: like all representatives of the insect class, six. Moreover, the number of legs is one of the features of this taxonomic unit such as the arthropod kingdom of animals.
Ant - an insect is very common. According to experts, the total mass of ants of the Earth is from ten to twenty percent of the total biomass (mass of all living things, including plants and microorganisms) of the planet. True, it is interesting: how accurate are the calculations of biologists? And in general, is there a technique that allows you to calculate the mass of a particular species, genus, order or class of animals? Most likely, the calculation error will be quite significant.
Ants emerged from insects into an independent family for a very long time. The first specimens were recorded by paleontologists during the heyday of the reign of dinosaurs - about one hundred seventy million years ago. The first ants were primitive in structure (compared to modern ants). Today, two species of ants have survived, almost unchanged from that time. These are the so-called "living minerals." The first of them was found in Australia in 1931 (a dinosaur ant), and the second was discovered in Brazil just five years ago. How many legs did ants have when dinosaurs walked the planet? Scientists are unanimous: six! Since that time, this is the fundamental difference between insects and arthropods of other classes.
Arthropods, including a number of both land and marine animals, are divided into a large number of genera. The exact number is unknown, since discoveries occur regularly. Therefore, even specialists find it difficult to answer - how much. The legs of insects are always six, so it’s easy to guess that, for example, spiders are not one of them. If you are still not interested, then on occasion recount his legs. There will be eight of them. Spiders, like insects, belong to the type of arthropods, stand out in it in a separate arachnid family. The class of well-known ticks belongs to the same family. Yes, they also have eight legs. Including the encephalitis tick, which should be feared when visiting the northern and Siberian forests.
It would seem that all this is not difficult, but because it is well remembered. However, when studying biology at school, it is often before the question of how many legs ants have, not too attentive students fall into a stupor. It would seem that you see these insects almost daily, but somehow did not bother to count the legs.
The legs of the ant, consisting of three joints, are extremely strong. According to biologists, our ordinary red forest ant is able to carry a weight twenty times its own. If the ratio of leg strength and body weight in a person were the same as that of an ant, he could run at the speed of a thoroughbred racehorse. Each of ant legs has three joints. The upper part is the thigh, the lower is the lower leg, and at the junction they have a spur. The lowest part of the ant leg is called the paw. At the end of the foot is the so-called claw.
Scientists sometimes doubt which class or detachment this or that representative of arthropods belongs to. And although the taxonomy of flora and fauna is a more or less well-established thing, disputes among biologists have not subsided to this day. Oddly enough, every year new species of invertebrates are discovered, although, it would seem, the planet has been explored far and wide! And although the question of how many legs the ants have is not an urgent category, it is quite possible that the opinion of biologists regarding the place and role of these representatives of collective insects in the evolution of life on Earth will be updated and refined as our knowledge of the planet increases.
