isopod

Oct. 3rd, 2018 08:37 am
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isopod (AI-suh-pod) - n., any of many crustaceans of the order Isopoda, wity a flattened body, segmented exoskeletons, and seven pairs of legs typically adapted for crawling.


Including the woodlice aka roly-polies. There are around 10,000 species of isopods altogether, about half marine bottom-dwellers, about half land animals, with a few hundred freshwater types on the side. Most are grazers or filter feeders, some are predators, and a few are parasites. In most species, the seven pairs of legs are all identical, leading to its name, coined in 1835 from Greek roots: iso-, same + -pod, foot.

Isopodic roly poly
Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

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