Chapter 26.7, Problem 2TYK

Summary Introduction

Introduction:

The arthropods constitute perhaps the most successful phylum on Earth. About three- quarters of all described living species present on Earth are arthropods, and scientists have estimated they are also numerically common, with an estimated 10¹⁸ billion individual organisms. The huge success of the arthropods, in terms of their sheer numbers and diversity, is related to features that permit these animals to live in all the major biomes on Earth, from the poles to the tropics and from marine and freshwater habitats to dry land. Such features include an exoskeleton, segmentation, and jointed appendages.