Marine Arthropods: A Successful Design

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Marine arthropods—crabs, shrimps and lobsters—have jointed appendages that are both strong and flexible which they use for sensing the world, feeding, and moving. Evolution has adapted these appendages, along with the segmented body, in amazing ways. An animation shows examples of this great potential. A surprising aspect to their body plan is that they wear their skeleton on the outside for protection. We see the incredible process of a crab shedding its exoskeleton, so its body can grow larger.