I don’t know much about crane flies or flies in general, but why do crane flies have such long legs? They seem like such a hindrance, and I doubt they’re much help when trying to land on walls or walking. They seem much too thin to draw the attention of predators away from the main body, and it seem…

Not to get dragged into a big messy debate or anything, but I have to say I agree with melodi_96. It is indeed often difficult to test the evolutionary benefits of a given morphological feature, but saying that long legs exist due to their ancestors having long legs or due to it not being detrimenta…

Arguably it’s simpler and more concise to say “the evolutionary benefits are too understudied to be known for sure, although it is likely that A, B, or C may be possible functions/reasons”.

I don’t really think we’re having a big argument here. :grinning: we’re actually agreeing on most things. I also think most of the difference of opinion is how we choose to type a written answer in a forum. What do we emphasize? Do we supplement previous info or will this response stand on its ow…

So you are telling us - your simple answer - is wrong? He has his father’s legs …

Heh. Maybe. It certainly isn’t a complete answer. I think someone reading the whole of this thread will have a decent understanding of the complexity of the issue and come away with a few possibilities of evolving really long legs. They will probably understand the limits of our knowledge too.

I figured it wasn’t an argument but was attempting to avoid it from escalating into one. In any case, fair point about “biologist shorthand may confuse nonbiologists”.

It is tempting to say “you asked the wrong question,” then explain what the question should have been and answer that. So, the simple answers are because God created them that way, or they evolved that way, or they inherited that trait from their parents. Or one could get into the whole Panglossia…

The question was a good one, and all the answers I’ve read so far are good responses that, together, start to tackle such a simple yet profound question. One thing that I learned (or relearned, probably) is that most adult crane flies don’t eat. So they don’t use their legs for obtaining food. Esca…

To add another philosophical layer, and with no disrespect to the OP, questions like this are a form of reductionism. In essence, they are an attempt to explain something in simple, concrete terms, to find the reason why something is the way it is. Human beings are notoriously unable to function wel…

Since ungainly and slow flying seems counterintuitive to survival, it’s a good question to wonder if it has a purpose. Questions like this drive scientific inquiry and inform phylogeny. Framing our pursuit of understanding as “reductionism” is odd to me in a citizen-science platform. Answers may be …

Why do crane flies have such long legs?

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Why do crane flies have such long legs?

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