| Peripatus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Onychophora |
| Class: | Onychophorida |
| Order: | Euonychophora |
| Family: | Peripatidae |
| Genus: | Peripatus Guilding, 1826 |
| Species | |
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Peripatus is a genus of Onychophora (velvet worms). It is an invertebrate which gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs. It is said to be a living fossil because it has been unchanged for approximately 570 million years. Peripatus are native to scattered places around the world including Australia, Africa, Asia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Brazil[1] [2] and other countries, but not in Europe or Antarctica. Peripatus is a nocturnal carnivore. This unique animal has the appearance of a caterpillar with its many pairs of legs, while its structure has many similarities to arthropods, but it also has many similarities to annelids, with some special features all of its own.
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Peripatus shows no external segmentation; the legs are not jointed like arthropod legs although they possess arthropod-like claws. The outer covering is a cuticle, which is covered in unique microscopic projections known as papillae. These papillae give Peripatus their velvet texture. The body is composed of segments like annelids with segmentally arranged nephridia. Peripatus respires through tracheae as arthropods do. Antennae are present on the head. Excretion is through nephridia, which are found in each of the legs.
Peripatus feeds by trapping its prey (mostly small insects) in a white, sticky fluid it ejects from two antennae near its head. The fluid hardens on contact with the air immoblizing the prey. Peripatus then chews a hole in its prey's exoskeleton with its mandibles (which move independently of each other), injects digestive enzymes, and begins sucking out its prey's pre-digested innards.