Onychophora

plural noun

On·​y·​choph·​o·​ra

ˌänəˈkäfərə

: a class of Arthropoda or an independent phylum comprising small elongated velvety-skinned terrestrial invertebrate animals of damp dark habitats in warm regions that are in some respects intermediate between annelid worms and typical arthropods, that have an unsegmented vermiform body, numerous pairs of short unsegmented legs with terminal bifid claws, and a head bearing a pair of segmented antennae, a pair of oral papillae on which slime glands open, a pair of simple eyes, and a pair of jaws resembling blades, that possess a hemocoel as a body cavity, and that breathe by means of tracheae and excrete by means of nephridia

onychophoran

¦⸗⸗¦⸗⸗rən 

adjective or noun

onychophore

ōˈnikəˌfō(ə)r

ˈänə̇kōˌ-

noun

plural -s

onychophorous

¦änə¦käfərəs

adjective

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from onych- + -phora

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