Starfish disintegrate after death. Only the ossicles and spines of the animal are likely to be preserved, making remains hard to locate. With their appealing symmetrical shape, starfish have played a part in literature, legend, design and popular culture. They are sometimes collected as curios, used in design or as logos, and in some cultures, despite possible toxicity, they are eaten. Most starfish have five arms that radiate from a central disc, but the number varies with the group. Some species have six or seven arms and others have 10–15 arms. The Antarctic "Labidiaster annulatus" can have over fifty. Having descended
How the Snake Lost Its Legs many of the, "nuts and bolts of evolution, deeper than just natural selection," are on display in the book, revealing, "precisely what genetic/physiological mechanisms are being selected for." The molecular biologist Arnaud Martin observes that, "As children, we have all wondered about 'the How and the Why' of animal features, and if you are reading this it is in fact quite possible that a similar inquisitiveness still burns within you. The tone of "How the Snake Lost its Legs" finds its roots in the famous "Just So Stories" of Joseph Rudyard Kipling by tickling this curiosity with the formulaic "How