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Is there a way arachnids legs could have finger like appendages at their ends in a way that makes sense for their structure and wouldn't look like a cheesy design?

This creature wouldn't be insect like in that it has an exoskeleton, as scaling up insects to the size I am after wouldn't work, so the creature would have a skeleton but would have a similar frame to a spider with the same forms of motion.

I already have an octopus like creature and due to its tentacles it can grab tools and interact with its environment to a degree I am after but I am struggling to see how this spider like creature can grab things without fingers.

So my question is what hand-like design would make sense for an arachnid and still allow it to move in a similar way?

Edit. As this creature is around 5 feet in length it doesn't have to crawl up sheer walls using the same hair like sticky method as spiders, it will just scuttle on the ground, roll using a pair of legs to propel and climb surfaces humans could, but with eight arms they could hang onto bumpy surfaces we couldn't.

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    $\begingroup$ ? Spiders belong to the subphylum Chelicerata, so named because its members have chelicerae. Some arthropods (including the scorpions, which in fact do belong to class Arachnida) have massive chelae. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 13:44
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP pincers is an idea, I had originally thought their sharpness and clamping method means I cant do many tasks, but the idea can be built on. $\endgroup$
    – user69935
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 14:04
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    $\begingroup$ Chelae are not necessarily sharp; they can be, but they do not have to be sharp. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 14:12
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah I suppose it can work, Dr octopus used three fingered grabbers on his tentacles arms that were similar to Chelae. $\endgroup$
    – user69935
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 14:18
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    $\begingroup$ Intelligent spiders and octopus? Is someone a fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky? If you haven't, I highly recommend reading Children of Time and its sequel, Children of Ruin. $\endgroup$
    – Harabeck
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 19:14

4 Answers 4

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Perhaps a modified form of the chelicerae, the mouth parts. Once humans stopped walking on all fours, our fingers were free to become quite dextrous (course there was also the grabbing branches bit), so I think you are right in thinking that it would be rough for the alien to walk on them.

But, perhaps the mouth parts, which are used for manipulating food pulled up to them by the legs, could have further evolved to perform even more delicate detail work.

A fairly gross and alien idea to us, but I bet an elephant would find it quite elegant, given its dextrous "nose" and lips.

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  • $\begingroup$ strange but interesting idea, thanks. $\endgroup$
    – user69935
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 17:28
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While not a typical trait of arachnids, a way a creature like a spider could grab onto things would to have a type of Raptorial, an appendage similar to a mantis' claws. It could use these as legs to climb or scuttle across the ground while still being able to grip things like handles, pry open certain objects, or grab onto pray. Since they would look like a normal leg on a arachnid it wouldn't look that strange, just like a pair of slightly thicker legs with more joints.

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  • $\begingroup$ good idea, thanks. $\endgroup$
    – user69935
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 17:29
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Fingers are not present in most arachnids. But they are common in their distant relatives, Crustaceans.

Think of your creature as a crab, not a spider. It will walk on rear pairs on legs and use front legs for grabbing. Note that like with all exoskeleton-based arthropods, these fingers will be hard, not soft like in mammals.

Scorpions also have "fingers". They are much more closely related to spiders (although look less similar).

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  • $\begingroup$ Scorpions are arachnids (= members of class Arachnida) and they do have conspicuous chelae on their pedipalps. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 20:03
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP you are correct, scorpions are more closely related to spiders than crabs. $\endgroup$
    – Alexander
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 20:16
  • $\begingroup$ Scorpions are only very distantly related to crabs. Crabs (and crustaceans in general) are much more closely related to insects than to scorpions (and to arachnids in general). $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 20:23
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP yes, that what I was saying too. $\endgroup$
    – Alexander
    Commented Feb 6, 2020 at 20:32
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Spiders, like many other limbed ecdysozoa (invertebrates that shed their cuticle), have claws at the end of their legs. In spiders, there are 2-3 of them. While they are not the most dextrous, it isn't ridiculous for them to be jointed in such a way that would allow them to be used as fingers

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