Rasha AridiAlmost every school child knows that cats have four legs, humans two, and spiders, a terrifying eight. Their number of limbs is immutable, set by their genetic code.
But a new study suggests starlet sea anemones—part of a famously adaptable group of aquatic creatures known as cnidarians—have a leg up on them.
They are the first species shown to grow entirely new limbs in response to food.Starlet sea anemones (Nematostella vectensis) are tiny, flowerlike invertebrates that live in shallow, salty lagoons along the coasts of North America and in parts of the United Kingdom.