Peripatus is a genus of Onychophora (Velvet worms). 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 New Zealand, Costa Rica1 and other countries, but not in Europe or Antarctica.
Peripatus is a nocturnal carnivore. It 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 and then the prey becomes immoblized. Peripatus then chews a hole in its prey's exoskeleton with its mandibles (which move independently of each other), injects digestive enzymes in, and begins sucking out its prey's pre-digested innards.
The White cave velvet worm, Peripatopsis alba, is a rare cave dwelling variety.
References
- ^ Onychophora Online: velvet worms, peripatus, living fossils, by Julian Monge Najera
See also
|
