peripatus

noun

pe·​rip·​a·​tus pə-ˈri-pə-təs 

: any of a class or phylum (Onychophora) of primitive tropical wormlike invertebrates that appear intermediate between annelid worms and arthropods

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, genus name, from Greek peripatos act of walking about, from peri- + patein to tread

First Known Use

circa 1931, in the meaning defined above