Arachnid Arachnid Arachnids () are a class (Arachnida) of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Almost all adult arachnids have eight legs, although the front pair of legs in some species has converted to a sensory function, while in other species, different appendages can grow large enough to take on the appearance of extra pairs of legs. The term is derived from the Greek word ("aráchnē"), from the myth of the hubristic human weaver Arachne who was turned into a spider. Spiders are the largest order in the class, which also includes scorpions, ticks, mites, harvestmen, and solifuges. Almost
Arthropod gills that were very different from those of arthropods. This reasoning implies that "Parapeytoia", which has legs and a backward-pointing mouth like that of the earliest arthropods, is a more credible closest relative of arthropods than is "Anomalocaris". In 2006, they suggested that arthropods were more closely related to lobopods and tardigrades than to anomalocarids. In 2014, research indicated that tardigrades were more closely related to arthropods than velvet worms. Higher up the "family tree", the Annelida have traditionally been considered the closest relatives of the Panarthropoda, since both groups have segmented bodies, and the combination of these groups was