TIL that despite their name, it is biologically impossible for a centipede to be born with exactly 100 legs because a genetic quirk dictates they always have an odd number of leg pairs.

[u/mvincen95]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centipede

[u/ninjatoast31]

The genetic quirk OP is referring to, is that centipeds develop their leg bearing segments in pairs. So they make 4 legs at a time. But the first 2 legs have been modified into venomous claws. So they cant have exactly 100 legs.

[u/H0dari → u/ninjatoast31]

Knowing how fickle biology can be, I wouldn't be surprised if a 100-legged centipede still existed. Chickens can be born with 4 legs, so it's not unfeasible for a centipede to develop a single half-pair of legs

[u/recurrence → u/H0dari]

Exactly, we have mutations all the time.

[u/mighij → u/recurrence]

What's your superpower?

An extra pair of legs.

98 wasn't enough?

[u/recurrence → u/mighij]

I wasn't kidding. The average human baby is born with 60 to 70 genetic mutations. Our genetic diversity is really quite broad.

[u/Classic-Pudding-3954 → u/recurrence]

Genetic Georg, who has 5000000 mutations, is an outlier and should be ignored

[u/DiseasedCupcake → u/recurrence]

Like the ninja turtles

[u/h-v-smacker → u/H0dari]

if a 100-legged centipede still existed

Generaly speaking, it's a 100±5%pede

[u/Yellwsub → u/h-v-smacker]

Ah, the Percentipede. My favorite character from The Phantom Tollbooth!

[u/Ok_Cow_1541 → u/h-v-smacker]

Cent-ish pede

[u/tubbleman → u/H0dari]

According to all known laws of aviation biology, there is no way that a bee centipede should be able to fly have exactly 100 legs.

The bee some centipede, somewhere, probably, of course, flies has 100 legs anyway

[u/ThoseThingsAreWeird → u/H0dari]

Chickens can be born with 4 legs

Do the extras work? Or are they just little stubby things that do nothing?

[u/H0dari → u/ThoseThingsAreWeird]

I looked at a few video examples of 4-legged chickens from YouTube, and of all the examples I saw, the extra legs were non-functional, usually the chicken would keep them folded close to their bodies with no sign of movement.

However, I don't think it's impossible for a four-legged chicken to not have all functional legs. Francesco Lentini was a human who had three functioning legs.

[u/gwaydms → u/H0dari]

Telling the story of Frank Lentini, I had to use the phrase "third leg" way too often.

[u/JonatasA → u/H0dari]

AI chickens are real!?

[u/CynicalAltruism → u/JonatasA]

r/BirdsArentReal

[u/ShiraCheshire → u/ninjatoast31]

I'm a little disappointed, I'll admit I was imagining they somehow have one lonely unpaired leg somewhere

[u/WatersLethe → u/ShiraCheshire]

That they had to ritually rip off in order to join the ranks of hallowed Order of the Centipede

[u/filsofolf → u/ninjatoast31]

But wouldn't that still result in an even number of legs, which is different from what OP stated.

[u/veganzombeh → u/filsofolf]

The title says an odd number of legs pairs. As in they can have either 98 (49 pairs) or 102 legs (51 pairs), but not 100 legs (50 pairs).

[u/filsofolf → u/veganzombeh]

I see, good catch.

[u/TrekkieGod → u/[deleted]]

This has some real "but why male models" vibe. They just explained to you why the oddness of the pairs is relevant: 100 requires an even pair (50 pairs).

[u/nilloki → u/filsofolf]

OP stated an odd number of "pairs" which still means an even number overall, just not a number that could equal 100 total.

[u/new2bay → u/ninjatoast31]

I bet now you're gonna tell me millipedes don't have 1000 legs.

[u/TDYDave2 → u/new2bay]

up to 1306, but none have exactly 1000.

[u/beautheschmo → u/TDYDave2]

The 1306 is also a massive outlier (and belongs to the single species out of ~12000 that has ever been found to even go over 1000, which also was first discovered in 2020, Eumillipes Persephone). Before that the known record was ~750 legs.

The most common range for their leg count is from ~100-200. It can also go down to a truly disappointing 24 legs in the smallest species.

[u/MrCandyMandible → u/new2bay]

No they have a million duh

(/s)

[u/demonsver → u/ninjatoast31]

Thank you for explaining

[u/mobuco → u/ninjatoast31]

they probably can with a genetic mutation. just like people "can't have 6 fingers" but many do

[u/bradeena → u/ninjatoast31]

Aren’t the claws functionally not legs then? That’s like saying humans have 4 legs but 2 have been modified into arms.

[u/Particular_Word1342 → u/bradeena]

"Centipedes sometimes have 100 limbs, but technically the first 2 limbs are arms not legs." would be equivalent but a far less interesting clickbait title.

[u/bradeena → u/Particular_Word1342]

Ohhhhh I actually misunderstood the comment above mine. I thought counting the claws as legs was why they couldn’t have 100 legs. Thanks for clarifying!

[u/gwaydms → u/Particular_Word1342]

They're called forcipules, a word that might be a diminutive of "forceps".

[u/adamantcondition]

Definitely a niche fact I would not have stumbled across on my own

[u/Digital_loop → u/adamantcondition]

While the centipede stumbled across it an odd number of times!

[u/Shimaru33 → u/Digital_loop]

Your affirmation has no legs to stand on.

[u/silverfallmoon → u/Digital_loop]

Still even since the legs are pairs...

[u/REDuxPANDAgain → u/adamantcondition]

Imagine stumbling and tripping and you just keep stumbling on every set of legs… 51 times.

[u/gwaydms → u/REDuxPANDAgain]

What does a centipede with a wooden leg sound like?

99 thump, 99 thump, 99 thump...

[u/-Nicolai → u/adamantcondition]

Learning an odd fact through a reddit post is pretty much the definition of stumbling upon something.

[u/ClosetLadyGhost → u/adamantcondition]

But u did stumble on it on your own

[u/Orlha → u/ClosetLadyGhost]

I send him the post

[u/Illithid_Substances]

It wasn't until a few years ago that a millipede was found that had over a thousand legs

[u/Clembert-Hamlamp → u/Illithid_Substances]

They're like 4 leaf clovers. Imagine how much luck you'd have if you found a 999ipede

[u/MisterMaclunkey → u/Clembert-Hamlamp]

See that's what people misunderstand about luck. You were lucky to find a 4 leaf clover. That used your luck. I found a seven leaf clover once when I was a kid and everything has been downhill since

I wish I was kidding

[u/bagmanoverzealous → u/MisterMaclunkey]

Have you thought about moving back up the hill?

[u/rematar → u/bagmanoverzealous]

Are you an angler?

[u/between_ewe_and_me → u/bagmanoverzealous]

I've never really understood the "all downhill from there" saying. I'm a mountain biker and going uphill sucks. Downhill is way better. There aren't many examples beyond like escaping a flood or an advancing army where going uphill is the easier choice.

[u/Jason13Official → u/between_ewe_and_me]

Trying to build at the top of a mountain, you don't secure the materials and they start to slide/role

"it's all going downhill"

Trying to sell propane and propane accessories to a town that's converting to gas less, electricity based cooking

"It's all going down, Hill"

[u/Lobo2ffs → u/bagmanoverzealous]

OK Obi-Wan.

[u/VikingSlayer → u/MisterMaclunkey]

Wait, I thought you were frozen on New Years 1999

[u/radioactivecowz → u/MisterMaclunkey]

Did that luck involve your brother Philip disappearing while delivering pizza?

[u/ba123blitz → u/Clembert-Hamlamp]

Clovers with more than 3 leaves is a genetic thing by the way

My grandma has a patch that’s been there at least a couple decades can always find a bunch of 4s

[u/Benji692 → u/ba123blitz]

Lucky!

[u/djpiperson → u/Clembert-Hamlamp]

Then it would be a  Nongentanonagintanovempede. 

[u/_Gonna_Die_Alone_ → u/Illithid_Substances]

Someone's job was to count sedated millipede legs from 9-5

[u/flayingbook → u/Illithid_Substances]

Inam glad I am not the research assistant that had to count the legs

[u/Oborr → u/Illithid_Substances]

But not exactly 1000 legs, which would be impossible!

[u/DrEverettMann → u/Oborr]

No, millipedes, unlike centipedes, always have an even number of pairs of legs, so it's theoretically possible for a species to have exactly a thousand legs.

[u/Nozinger → u/DrEverettMann]

But miilipedes do have an odd number of leg pairs.

So one of the differences between milipedes and centipedes is that milipedes do have 2 leg pairs per body segment instead of one leg pair per body segment. Now ths initially sounds like a milipede would have an even number of leg pairs however crucially the first 3 body segments only have one leg pair each.

So the number of leg pairs is 2n+3 which is inde3ed an odd number.

BUT! These are leg PAIRS. So the number of legs will be 2(2n+3) which to absolutely no surprise is an even number.

Back to milipedes and the question of wether or not they can have exactly 1000 legs. Is there an n for which 2(2n+3)=1000? And the answer is no. 994 is not divisible by 4. 998 legs are possible. 1002 legs are possible. 1000 are not.

[u/Cucumberneck → u/DrEverettMann]

Because I love to be pedantic, if you cripple one with more legs it's still perfectly possible.

[u/zhongcha → u/Cucumberneck]

Is it particularly crippling if it has that many legs? I'd say maiming is more appropriate a term.

[u/EMPgoggles → u/DrEverettMann]

i like that this further validates people thinking millipedes are alright while centipedes are wack.

[u/Skychu768]

To be fair, Hundred Years' War lasted 116 years

[u/Wakkit1988 → u/Skychu768]

The At Least One Hundred Years war doesn't sound as good.

[u/TwiggyPom → u/Wakkit1988]

"100ish years war" is what it should be called

[u/JonatasA → u/TwiggyPom]

The 100+ Let's get on with the Middle Times.

[u/acquaintedwithheight → u/Wakkit1988]

≥ 100 Years War

[u/sixtus_clegane119 → u/Skychu768]

At some point I guess they just realized nobody who remembers the start of the war was still alive

[u/andrasq420 → u/sixtus_clegane119]

It isn't even one war, it's three wars in a trenchcoat.

[u/watts52 → u/Skychu768]

That's 58 pairs of years....still not possible for a centipede.

[u/Sideways_X1 → u/Skychu768]

Might be why the person who named it that isn't alive anymore. Might not be, but it might be.

[u/SaltyPeter3434 → u/Skychu768]

Hundred Years War: Extended Director's Cut

[u/Gnonthgol → u/Skychu768]

The way I interpret it there were 3 wars that makes up the hundred years wars and added together they lasted a hundred years.

[u/JonatasA → u/Gnonthgol]

Yea, it wasn't continuous in the sense we had say WWI.

[u/Dirkdeking → u/JonatasA]

It is more like calling WWI and WWII collectively the '28 year war'

[u/SouthOfMars → u/Skychu768]

I learned this from Bill Bailey on his latest tour. You don’t just go for the laughs!

[u/MJWhitfield86 → u/Skychu768]

The Hundred Years And Then A Little Bit More’s War.

[u/Dire87 → u/Skychu768]

While the 30 year war lasted apparently exactly 30 years.

[u/Normal_Measurement_4]

Um .... 50 pairs of legs and 1 pair of arms. Duh!

[u/Sideways_X1 → u/Normal_Measurement_4]

49 leg pairs plus arm pair?

[u/JonatasA → u/Normal_Measurement_4]

What throws me off in spiders. Always that extra pair.

[u/andrewse]

Humans also are limited to an odd number of leg pairs.

[u/xTyronex48 → u/andrewse]

Correct, my third one sprouted at 13

[u/horribus3 → u/xTyronex48]

Third pair. So you’re a centaur with three legs on each side?

[u/xTyronex48 → u/horribus3]

Yes sir

[u/Shergak]

TIL that people in this thread are either really bad at math or at reading comprehension.

[u/spacyoddity → u/Shergak]

inclusive or

[u/Shergak → u/[deleted]]

Having an odd number of leg pairs means it can never have 100 legs, not that it has an odd number legs. That is because 50 is even.

[u/Jknzboy]

I blame the romans. They gave it the name centi-pede but didn’t actually bother to count them correctly first.

I mean, really, what have Romans ever done for us?? Apart from the aqueduct

[u/eagleth → u/Jknzboy]

The roads are pretty nice too... But apart from that what have the Romans ever done for us?

[u/Aoi_Haru → u/eagleth]

The sanitation.

[u/vviley → u/Aoi_Haru]

All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[u/fishyronin → u/vviley]

They filmed a pretty good biopic about Maximus Decimus Meridius.

Will always appreciate them for deciding to record that and pass it on to the generations.

[u/-RatPack- → u/vviley]

Politics 👎

[u/Hepta-Water-7552 → u/vviley]

A source of very fancy names for our space engineering projects. Not to be underestimated!

[u/gggg_man3 → u/vviley]

Gay sex. They did a lot of that.

[u/JonatasA → u/gggg_man3]

Imported from Greece

[u/One-Elderberry-488 → u/vviley]

Self-repairing concrete.

[u/Nirast25 → u/vviley]

wine

There's no way that's a Roman invention. Surely it pre-dates them, right?

[u/Christmas_Queef → u/Nirast25]

Correct. Wine is wayyyyyyy older than Romans. Also Romans flavored their wine with lead lol.

[u/Nirast25 → u/Christmas_Queef]

I was mostly going by the fact Dionysus is the god of wine, but I wasn't sure if he got that title later on.

[u/JonatasA → u/Nirast25]

What's the Roman equivalent?

[u/Nirast25 → u/JonatasA]

Bacchus.

[u/APiousCultist → u/eagleth]

They eunted our domuses apparently.

[u/Jknzboy → u/APiousCultist]

The people called Romans they go to the home? Write it out correctly 100 times before dawn!

[u/ripyourlungsdave]

I mean, most humans are born with 10 fingers, but I was born with 11.

Don't know why centipedes would have more perfect genetics than humans.

[u/TeachEngineering → u/ripyourlungsdave]

No doubt, genetic abnormalities would make a 100-legged centipede possible. The phrases "biologically impossible" is annoying here, but the fact that an odd number of legs is the normal case is interesting.

Mostly because I assumed the centipede was symmetrical with legs matched 1-for-1 on the left and right side. Now I'm picturing an asymmetrical offset much like a zipper to make the total an odd number.

EDIT: They are indeed symmetrical, typically possessing an odd number of leg pairs (aka segments), meaning they'd have an even number of total legs.

[u/rich1051414 → u/TeachEngineering]

But the number of segments is odd. Meaning they 'normally' can't have 50 segments, because it's an even number, therefore, 100 legs isn't a normal leg count for something in that family.

[u/dibalh → u/ripyourlungsdave]

I do not mean to pry, but don’t you by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?

[u/ImmediateLobster1 → u/dibalh]

Do you always begin conversations this way?

[u/Dnaldon]

That's just centipede 101

[u/nofmxc → u/Dnaldon]

101 is also technically not possible

[u/ButImJustJim]

There has been a single specimen found in 1999 with an even number of legs, 48. But this is believed to be a genetic mutation

https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/5300030.chris-centipede-find-makes-science-history/

[u/HocusP2]

the Dutch word for centipede is duizendpoot: thousandpaw

[u/johnschnee → u/HocusP2]

Same in german:

Tausendfüßler

[u/g_r_e_y → u/johnschnee]

german turtle is schildkröt: Shield Frog

[u/Billazilla → u/g_r_e_y]

I like that the early people who would become Germans were like, "WTF is that?" "I dunno, some kind of (thingy) with a (detail)." "Right, so we will call it a (DetailThingy)!"

And they just went with that for centuries.

[u/johnschnee → u/Billazilla]

Yeah… Feuerzeug for example. (Fire-Thingy - a lighter)

For me as german speaking that is such a normal thing that I never thought about how hilarious this is

[u/ShaolinDude → u/g_r_e_y]

And in Dutch it's schildpad, Shield Toad

[u/pinklavalamp → u/johnschnee]

Turkish is “kirkayak” - literally “forty feet”.

[u/zabourra → u/pinklavalamp]

Lebanese : um arb3a w arb3in, literally , mother of 44

[u/Doldenbluetler → u/johnschnee]

HIL, dass auch Hundertfüsser als Tausendfüsser bezeichnet werden können.

[u/mafiaknight → u/HocusP2]

Thousand paw? Then what do you call millipedes? Million paw?

[u/HocusP2 → u/mafiaknight]

Disappointingly also (and perhaps more accurately) duizendpoot.

[u/LazyLich → u/HocusP2]

Damn... that's a lot of farts!

[u/spacyoddity → u/HocusP2]

duizendpootjes 🥹 echt schattig woordje

[u/imdungrowinup → u/HocusP2]

Thousand legs is shahastrapad in Hindi and that’s millipede. Centipede is just a hundred legs.

[u/ciarogeile]

So, the reason this happens is that the leg-bearing segments first develop as pairs and are later subdivided. Later again, the first of these is specialized into the forcipular segment, with venom claws.

You can find very rare exceptions with exactly 100, but they are developmental deformities, like when humans have 6 fingers.

[u/rubseb]

A disheartening number of people ITT having trouble with the concept of an odd number of pairs...

[u/comicsnerd]

The difference between centipedes and millipedes is the number of legs per segment. Centipedes have 1 pair per segment, millipedes have 2 pairs of legs per segment.

In Dutch the naming is odd. Duizendpoot (a thousand legs) for centipedes and Miljoenpoot (million legs) for millipedes.

[u/Wrong-Ad-4600 → u/comicsnerd]

in german ist "hundertfüssler"(hundret legs) and "tausendfüssler"(thousen legs)

[u/the430autogyro → u/Wrong-Ad-4600]

IIRC in Greek it is forty-legs. Can anyone confirm?

[u/IWanTPunCake → u/the430autogyro]

Dunno about greek but turkish is also 40 legs

[u/Sharlinator → u/Wrong-Ad-4600]

Well, those are exact translations of centipede and millipede. But the Dutch ones aren’t, apparently they like to exaggerate.

[u/Punch_A_Police_Horse → u/comicsnerd]

There's other important differences. Centipedes are nasty mother fuckers you don't want to touch, millipedes are chill as hell.

[u/King_Roberts_Bastard → u/Punch_A_Police_Horse]

That being said, if you have a house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) in your house, don't kill it. It wont bother you and it great for pest control

[u/ZylonBane]

Baker's centipede.

[u/dank_imagemacro]

Perhaps centipedes index from 0?

[u/DJLeafygreens]

I'm glad I'm not the one that's tasked with counting centipede legs

[u/chipdelux → u/DJLeafygreens]

I remember I tried to do that as a child.....once.

[u/FuntimesOctonion]

Could be born with 101 and have 1 fall off!

[u/YeahlDid]

an odd number... of pairs

Edit: My bad, this was not meant as a top level reply, this was supposed to be a response to a person who was confused about how an odd number of pairs is still an even number. Now it has replies and stuff so leaving it up.

[u/Coady54 → u/YeahlDid]

Yes, that is what the title says. So the closest to 100 legs they can have is 98 or 102, since 100 legs would be 50 pairs which is an even number, which they can't have.

[u/YeahlDid → u/Coady54]

Oops, yes this was meant as a response to another comment, not top level reply. Oh well.

[u/jechaking → u/YeahlDid]

You skip over it, only now that I read it here I am thinking wait that’s odd.

[u/thosava → u/jechaking]

It means they either have 49 or 51 pairs, never 50 as an example.

[u/ballisticks → u/thosava]

Yeah I really don't see how this is confusing

[u/ChrundleThundergun → u/ballisticks]

It’s only confusing if you’re also confused by the question what weighs more a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

[u/konakonayuki]

51 left feet

[u/Neilkd → u/konakonayuki]

51 right feet. They met each other

[u/weireldskijve]

odd number of leg "pairs" or what you mean is they have an odd number of legs?

[u/SykoSarah → u/weireldskijve]

Odd number of leg pairs. In order to have 100 legs, they'd need to have 50 pairs of legs. They'll have an even number of legs, but not an even number of pairs.

[u/weireldskijve → u/SykoSarah]

ooooh, so like they could have 98 legs or 102, never 100 precisely.

Gotcha.

[u/SenorSolAdmirador]

centishpede

[u/rip1980]

No centipede has ever been born with any legs....they hatch.

[u/DwinkBexon → u/rip1980]

I feel like hatching would count as being born.

[u/drthvdrsfthr → u/rip1980]

ngl i’ve never known the distinction until now, TIL

[u/Haunt_Fox → u/drthvdrsfthr]

Though an egg just acts as an external womb in which the new creature grows from zygote through to fetus until it needs to "break free", or born. The major difference is that there's assumed to be more effort by the infant involved in a hatching than in a mammal-style birthing. 🤷🏼‍♀️. Personally I think humans split hairs too much when it comes to assigning terms.

[u/rip1980 → u/drthvdrsfthr]

Yeah...it's technically correct. The best kind of correct. :D

[u/open-print → u/rip1980]

No centipede has ever been born with any legs....yet

[u/superpowerpinger]

I always find that odd.

[u/kishenoy → u/superpowerpinger]

I can't even

[u/FionaOlwen]

I find this very upsetting 🙁

[u/konakonayuki]

51 left feet

[u/AdWooden2312]

Ninetynineapeed

[u/Antoshi]

How many legs does a Human Centipede have?

[u/potato_lettuce → u/Antoshi]

From what I just learned swimming the Wikipedia, it should rather be called a human millipede. Centipedes have one pair of legs per segment, whereas millipedes have 2, which fits better if you consider each person it's own segment

[u/RunDNA]

That's presumably for a normally-developed centipede. Humans can be born with one leg in rare cases, so why can't a centipede also be born with a missing leg?

[u/Sideways_X1]

Maybe now...I'm not ruling out the possibility that the first person grabbed one with 50 pairs, but another one that got away with an odd number of pairs just made so many dang babies that we look like fools now.

[u/thatguy11]

Anything can be deformed!

[u/Correct_Doctor_1502]

That doesn't seem efficient, but I don't know enough bug science to say otherwise

[u/Spirited-Lifeguard55]

Can never live up to its name, a disappointment from the moment it is born.

[u/Sozburger]

Cent-ish-pede

[u/superpenistendo]

So they’re liars

[u/3string]

Wow!

[u/EthanRDoesMC]

I love it whenever the writers of Wikipedia decide (individually or collectively) to add a little flourish to their writing.

Even small centipedes that cannot pierce human skin are considered frightening by some people due to their dozens of legs moving at the same time and their tendency to dart swiftly out of the darkness towards one's feet. A 19th-century Tibetan poet warned his fellow Buddhists, "if you enjoy frightening others, you will be reborn as a centipede."

[u/tekdiwah]

Someone looked at it and said yep, 100 legs, Centipede, anyone want to count? Everyone else says nope, it's terrifying, 100 legs it is.

[u/mountjo]

I don't like liars

[u/1lyke1africa]

So, the number of legs has exactly one factor of two.

[u/ninjatoast31 → u/[deleted]]

Plenty of centipedes have more than 100 legs

[u/DthDisguise]

Next you'll tell me that a millipede doesn't actually have a million legs...

[u/steen311 → u/DthDisguise]

Well the milli in millipede actually stands for a thousand

[u/arandomnewyorker → u/steen311]

Oh you

[u/therealjohnsmith → u/steen311]

Vanilli!

[u/deejay2221 → u/steen311]

The prefixes are probably from latin but in french "cent" means hundred and "mille" means thousand.

[u/MrdnBrd19]

One of those creatures that when you see it in real life you realize there can't be a loving god, because no loving god would create such an abomination.

[u/-Wicked-]

I don't care how many legs they have as long as I can still get between 190-1000pts for destroying one with a rollerball.

[u/Due-Base9449]

Can you not jump scare with that writhing mass

[u/Normal_Pace7374]

Tbf 100 is quite an odd pair of legs for a creature to have

[u/pthecarrotmaster]

you won't believe when you hear about millipedes