Credit: Preston Innovation Laboratory, Rice University Spider legs only have muscles for retraction, while extension is achieved via a hydraulic mechanism. In the spider’s body, a chamber filled ...

Spiders have a reputation for being cunning – just look at the Ghanaian folktale Anansi. Now, research suggests that a ...

How does a spider stretch its legs? That question is an old zoologist baffler. Spiders have no leg-stretching muscles, yet they have an unquestioned ability to unflex all eight pedal extremities.