they have eight legs. this was by no means a serious question, just a thought provoking statement.
2006-12-10 10:00:00 · 4 answers · asked by Jaz A 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Absolutely not. The two organisms are not closely related. Octopuses are cephalopod mollusks, while spiders are arthropods. The number of legs possessed by an organism is not a good means of classification.
This is (kind-of) an example of convergent evolution, the process whereby organisms not closely related independently evolve similar traits. For example, butterflies, bats, and birds all have wings, but they evolved independently in very different ways.
2006-12-10 10:17:07 · answer #1 · answered by arcaemous 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most people would say that they were atleast slightly related, but they aren't. The spider does not have many things that are needed to be considered any type of octopus. They do not have suction cups on their "not" tentacles, they cannot freely bend their 8 legs any way that they want either. Also, Spiders can only have a minimum of 4 eyes, while an octopus can have no more or less that two. Those are only a few reasons to why a spider can be considered a "land octopus". =P
2006-12-10 19:29:34 · answer #2 · answered by Peanut Panda 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, spiders are actually related to crabs - but spiders are not really "land crabs"... more like distant crab cousins... Spiders and crabs have a similar type of breathing organ and both have exoskeletons. One researcher in south america actually ate a tarantula and said it tasted like crab.
Note that crab spiders are spiders and spider crabs are crabs... ;)
2006-12-10 20:10:20 · answer #3 · answered by Ron E 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
well no, by no means, it didnt really make me think at all. Cephalopods and Arachnids are completley different.
2006-12-10 19:38:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋