[eli5] Why do insects have lots of legs while larger animals have 4 or 2? Also, why aren’t there any animals (that I know of) with 3 legs?

Question

[eli5] Why do insects have lots of legs while larger animals have 4 or 2? Also, why aren’t there any animals (that I know of) with 3 legs?

In: 381

Answer 1

My conclusion on the amount of legs spiders and insects have, after seeing many spiders with missing legs, is that its great to have some legs you can afford to lose and keep functioning, since they are so fragile.