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Characteristics Of The Horseshoe Crab

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Introduction: “Limulus polyphemus, the horseshoe crab, inhabits shallow-brackish marine environments ranging from the Atlantic Ocean along the North American coastline to the Gulf coasts of the United states and from the East coast of Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula” (Walls, Elizabeth). There are three other species of the horseshoe crab worldwide: Tachypleus tridentatus, Tachypleus gigas, and Carconoscorpinus rotundicauda that closely resemble Limulus in structure and habits, ranging from the Indian ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Asia (National Wildlife Federation).
“The horseshoe crab is known to be one of the “oldest living fossils”; which means that this organism’s morphology has essentially not changed from fossils found from earlier geologic times, around 250 million years ago” (Noel Chartier). Based on the fact that the morphology has not changed in so long it can be assumed that the horseshoe crab has not had to adapt to changing environments and has been able to withstand a changing environment. “Due to the statement regarding the “oldest living fossils,” one can hypothesize that fossil records will show evidence that fossils of extinct creatures look nearly identical to the creatures that are still living today” (Noel Chartier).
If a person searched for horseshoe crabs in a shallow-brackish marine environment and found a living horseshoe crab and compared it to a fossil record of one, they would look almost identical to each other. The outward

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