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From Fins to Wings
NOVEMBER 2006
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Limulus polyphemus, photographed at Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole
 10 of 21 
Horseshoe Crab
Photograph by Rosamond Purcell
A horseshoe crab is a Swiss army knife of jointed limbs—for walking, swimming, grasping, shredding, and defending. Yet the same ancient cluster of Hox genes governs the development of body segments in all arthropods. What type of limbs a segment acquires depends on which Hox gene is in control there, and on how evolution has reshaped the original unadorned parts to suit new needs.
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