tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post6130276832219792718..comments2024-03-05T21:22:43.426-05:00Comments on parshablog: How many legs does a מַרְבֵּה רַגְלַיִם have?joshwaxmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03516171362038454070noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-20306019957144743432012-05-03T04:24:42.168-04:002012-05-03T04:24:42.168-04:00Perhaps he meant 32 or 34 on each side, and he wa...Perhaps he meant 32 or 34 on <b>each side</b>, and he wasn't counting the first pair of legs, which have been modified into venomous claws.<br /><br />Alternatively, nishtaneh hateva :-)Joe in Australianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-74273091337445785822012-05-02T07:40:45.637-04:002012-05-02T07:40:45.637-04:00Cool!
Though I don't know that the Torah Temi...Cool!<br /><br />Though I don't know that the Torah Temimah was doing original research here. It is quite possible that he was relying on other scientists.<br /><br />(Still, I don't know what to make of the 32 legs bit, if this is indeed centipedes.)joshwaxmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05149022516101476797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-21968356587665280152012-05-02T03:20:19.029-04:002012-05-02T03:20:19.029-04:00For what it's worth, the Wikipedia article on ...For what it's worth, the Wikipedia article on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centipede#Anamorphy_vs._epimorphy" rel="nofollow">centipedes</a> says <i>"The clade Epimorpha, consisting of orders Geophilomorpha and Scolopendromorpha, exhibits epimorphy: all pairs of legs are developed in the embryonic stages, and offspring do not develop more legs between moults. It is this clade that contains the longest centipedes; the maximum number of thoracic segments may also vary intra-specifically, often on a geographical basis; <b>in most cases, females bear more legs than males."</b> </i><br /><br />I suppose that the Torah Temimah's account is based on personal research; if so I'm quite impressed - not only that he counted them, but that he distinguished males from females!Joe in Australianoreply@blogger.com