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Onychophoran – velvet worm

Onychophoran - velvet worm

Velvet worms are arthropod relatives so different from most other animals that they’re classified in their own phylum, Onychophora. Setting them apart is their “elastohydrodynamic squirt-system,” a mechanism they use to shoot a web of slime at their prey to immobilize them. (Images originally published in Zitani et al, American Entomologist, Summer 2018)

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