Why absolutely no three-legged creatures exist on Earth?

Science answers the questions `Why?`

Tracy Thomson, a researcher majoring in Earth Sciences graduated from the University of California, USA, recently published an article in the journal Bioessays to discuss this interesting topic.

Thomson shared that he started getting the research idea during a lecture by paleontologist Geerat Vermeij.

Thomson knew that there were some species, such as meerkats, that stood on their hind legs and added their tails behind them for stability.

Having a third limb for support when standing can help the organism conserve energy.

Unlike us humans, standing on two legs requires many muscle groups that need to be used continuously to maintain balance.

This is a pretty popular yoga exercise, and if you’re really curious you can try it for a moment and ask: Why don’t I grow an extra leg behind me?

In fact, a third limb not only provides support for standing posture, but can also be useful while the animal is moving.

Thomson said he has observed six-legged insects move using a three-legged pattern: Two side legs and one opposite leg lift off the ground to move forward, while the other three legs hold on.

Many animals such as monkeys also use their tails for climbing.

The closest three-legged animal model that can be seen in real life is the Kangaroo.

So clearly, having a third leg is sometimes an advantage for creatures.

`Most animals evolved with bilaterally symmetrical bodies,` he said.

And once this evolutionary trait is introduced into the DNA, it is very difficult to remove it from the organism’s genome.

Mutations can sometimes cause creatures to have a third extra limb, such as in the case of Frank Lentini, an Italian man who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But clearly, evolution does not favor

Because evolution has favored symmetrical creatures, three-legged animals will only exist in the human imagination.

They exist on planets like Enceladus, Alpha Centauri or Mars, but in real life, you will not find a creature with three legs.

Thomson said imagination in this condition plays an important role.

And imagining three-legged creatures and finding the answer to the question of why they don’t exist is not just a pastime.