Friday, June 15, 2012

Despite their name, no centipedes have 100 legs



           Yes, the prefix centi- does mean “one hundred,” but this is more to imply “a large number” than to be taken as meaning an exact figure.
         In fact, most species of these insects possess 35-39 pairs of legs.
         They can have anywhere from 15 to 179 body segments, with one pair per section. The legs on the segment directly behind a centipede’s head contains a pair of poison-tipped legs ending in sharp claws that are optimized for hunting!

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