Taxonomy, the Classification System, and Horseshoe Crabs.
By Katherine Gould
This might seem weird, but it helps me. I will do my best to explain the reason why I chose this animal, and these topics to discuss. I recently went to the beach, and while I was there I found the skin/shell of a horseshoe crab. The picture isn't off mine, but it gives you an idea of what they look like while alive.
Moving on, I found the horseshoe crab, and when I went back to my rental house, I was thinking,"I just found the coolest thing ever, I mean what even are these?" and after a quick Google search, I saw a bunch of cool facts, relating to biology, and I thought that this might help me study. I hope this helps you guys.
Also this might/probably will get boring so I will start us off with a joke: What is the coolest answer on a test? B)"
The Atlantic Horseshoe Crab (the diagram above shows the complexity moving from the simple fact that the species is, infact, made Eukaryotic animals. to the fact that they are a species. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Merostomata Order: Xiphosura Family: Limulidae Genus: Limulus Species: Limulus polyphemus
They haven't changed a noticeable amount for quite a long time, according to their oldest known fossils. They are scientifically considered to be "living fossils" and they are valued for their blue blood, which lacks hemoglobin, and is useful when running test, and experiments, on human blood. I don't know if that is the direct cause for the species near threatened, but it could be a load of things influencing that fact.
(Sorry that the picture is so long, I had to make it that big so I could read it... Sorry If its way to big) If you look at the picture, you can see that it is a phylogenic tree containing the Horseshoe crab, which is the third to last point on the tree. I believe this particular diagram is implying that sponges are the odd one out, making the tree start at about Cinidara, if I am following it correctly. I hope that this little post helped you guys!