Posted on August 7, 2024

This video explains the concept of carcinization, which is where creatures tend to evolve into crab-like creatures. It has happened multiple times and it is a type of convergent evolution.

Researchers led by Harvard University reported in a study published in BioEssays study in 2021 that the crab-like body plan evolved at least five times independently in both true crabs (Brachyura) and false crabs (Anomura).

Scientific American also has an article, Why Do Animals Keep Evolving into Crabs?, which explains the evolutionary favorable crablike body type in animals.