Carcinisation

Not to be confused with Carcinogenesis.

Carcinisation (American English: carcinization) is a form of convergent evolution in which non-crab crustaceans evolve a crab-like body plan. The term was introduced into evolutionary biology by Lancelot Alexander Borradaile, who described it in 1916 as "the many attempts of Nature to evolve a crab".

Carcinisation has been observed most often in species of infraorder Anomura, and is characterized by a flattened and widened carapace, fused sternites, and a bent and flattened pleon. It is hypothesized to offer the selective advantages of protecting vital organs and allowing organisms to more easily escape predators on the ocean floor.

An obscure phenomenon for much of the time since its discovery, carcinisation has become more widely known since 2019, having been the subject of a popular internet meme.

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