Why is a large heavy exoskeleton less limiting for arthropods that live in the water?
that is not the answer!!
One of the reasons arthropods on land aren't as large as those in water is the fact their exoskeleton would be too heavy to carry, but water carries the animal. Gravity is less of a bother in water. Just look at a swimming whale versus a beached whale :P
Gravity is less of a problem in water because water carries an animal. Just compare a swimming whale with a beached one. The only reason they got so big was water, and the same applies to arthropods. ^^
Why is a large heavy exoskeleton less limiting for arthropods that live in the water?
that is not the answer!!
Water provides bouancy, which causes the effects of a heavy carapace to be reduced.
because they live in water so it's not as heavy for them
Their exoskeleton limits growth; if arthropods were large, their armour would be too heavy and they'd collapse! Also they use trachea to absorb oxygen, and if they were large, these wouldn't reach through their entire body and cells would die off in areas further away from the oxygen supply. This is why they did get large in the Carboniferous era, when oxygen concentrations in the atmosphere were much higher. :)
Firstly, any sizeable organism be it Arthropod or otherwise would need some kind of infrastructure if it's important to that organism to maintain a consistent general body plan or morphology. Not all organisms require this; for example there are amorphous organisms like the amoeba or certain fungi; some slime molds can grow to a significant size and survive quite well with a highly generalized and nonspecific shape. In the case of those with a high degree of motility, some consistency in shape is useful. Even jellyfish with no significant skeleton, have sufficient rigidity for mobility. The important thing is, the degree of infrastructure is consistent with the habitat and behaviors to which it's adapted. In the case of arthropods, an exoskeleton is very convenient and an endoskeleton would be redundant; for vertebrates, an endoskeleton serves this role and an exoskeleton would prove cumbersome. To be sure, some vertebrates evidence similar adaptations for which an arthropod uses an exoskeleton, for example, the plating on an armadillo, the shell on a tortoise, the thick skin on large mammals, etc; yet for their mass, the thickness of an exoskeleton to provide the necessary rigidity for the purpose of the body plan in vertebrates would be impractical. The reverse can be said to be true of some arthropods; since some have muscles which anchor not to the exoskeleton but to internal cartilaginous structures which are arguably somewhat endoskeletal. One might say, the laws of physics, particularly mass and gravity, dictate the usefulness of an exoskeleton to Arthropods given their size, role, and adaptations; the hardness of it reflecting the requirements placed upon the organism for its functionality and thus, its survival.
Arthropods and sponges are two major divisions in taxonomy called Phyla (singular, phylum). Phylum Arthropoda ("joint appendages"), or the arthropods, includes such creatures as insects, spiders, millipedes, crustaceans, etc. Phylum Porifera ("pore-bearing") are the sponges.
In spite of its large size, the arthropods has only seven general habitat types, listed below:Florida scrubFlatwoodsBayheadsSeasonal ponds and seepsLake AnniePastureDisturbed habitats
This large phylum includes classes as wide and diverse as: arachnida, insecta and crustacea. The appendages that can be seen in these classes include: jointed legs, antennae, mandibles and maxillae, although each class is more specific.
Why is a large heavy exoskeleton less limiting for arthropods that live in the water?that is not the answer!!
Why is a large heavy exoskeleton less limiting for arthropods that live in the water?that is not the answer!!
Their exoskeleton limits growth; if arthropods were large, their armour would be too heavy and they'd collapse! Also they use trachea to absorb oxygen, and if they were large, these wouldn't reach through their entire body and cells would die off in areas further away from the oxygen supply. This is why they did get large in the Carboniferous era, when oxygen concentrations in the atmosphere were much higher. :)
Hardened Exoskeleton Jointed Appendages Modified Segments Respiratory Structures Sensory Specialization Specialized Stages of Development Large in abundance and diversity
exoskeleton
For a spider: Large frontal exoskeleton, large rectal exoskeleton, eight legs, and then their pincers at the front. Scorpions are similar, but they have a stronger exoskeleton and a tail leading on from the rectal exoskeleton. Their tail is split into roughly 10 segments, but it varies between species.
For a spider: Large frontal exoskeleton, large rectal exoskeleton, eight legs, and then their pincers at the front. Scorpions are similar, but they have a stronger exoskeleton and a tail leading on from the rectal exoskeleton. Their tail is split into roughly 10 segments, but it varies between species.
three paits of jointed legs. Edit: Be Real Man. The real answer is that the water pushes heavy stuff up to make them lighter in water then in land. edit: really you both are rong the real answer is:Afaik this depends on the animal in question. Some insects, for example, do not grow in size at all when adults and thus avoid this problem. Animals that do shed their exoskeleton can move, the underlying soft exoskeletong along with the internal pressure of the animal are enough to facilitate this. But at least many crayfish (and likewise many otehr arthropods that shed their exoskeleton) hide until their exoskeleton has hardened again - that is, they can move, but will not unless they really have to. They just hide in some nook and wait. And what comes to other disadvantages of chitious exoskeleton: it allows muscles to attach only inside of the exoskeleton, quite unlike human muscles for example work. This provides poorer strength production, which is why arthropods cannot really grow much larger than what we see around us. For similar reasons, virtually all the largest arthropods live in water, because there you need less strength to move heavy weights. Even though we know that ants are mighty strong compared to their size, human-sized ants would collapse even udner their own weight and they could not carry a hundred or so times their weight like small ants do!
No, molluscs have their own separate phylum (Mollusca), different in characteristics from arthropods. Mollusca includes snails, cuttlefish, and limpets. Note that the term 'anthropod' should not be confused with 'arthropod' - anthropod is not a phylum nor taxon but is a general term meaning human or humanoid.
crayfish have a hard exoskeleton and large, pinching claws.
Mollusks compose of the large phylum of invertebrate animals known as the Mollusca. Mollusks have a mantle, mollusks invertebrate. Arthropods have jointed appendages, arthropods have segmented bodies
Because ants are far smaller than lizards.Ants being smaller is part of the reason. Another part is that ants are what we call arthropods, animals like insects, spiders, crabs and so on. Arthropods have their hard and tough parts in thin layers as a sort of tough skeleton on the outside. We call that the exoskeleton, meaning "outside skeleton". Their soft innards are inside the exoskeleton, fastened to special anchors. Lizards are vertebrates; they have their hard parts (their teeth and bones) on the inside, with only the soft, tough skin on the outside. Bones being mostly hard and large, they don't squash easily.Small arthropods don't need thick exoskeletons, but a small, thin exoskeleton is easy to squash, while a big, thick, bony skull or leg is hard to squash.Big arthropods like some beetles and lobsters may be quite hard to squash.But don't squash any animal or plant that you don't have a good reason to squash; they are far more beautiful and far more interesting while they are alive.