peripatoidadj.n.
/pᵻˈrɪpətɔɪd/, U.S. /pəˈrɪpəˌtɔɪd/ Zoology. rare.
A. adj.
Of, relating to, or resembling animals of the phylum Onychophora; onychophoran, peripatid.
ΚΠ
1894 Amer. Naturalist 28 223 The other hypothesis of a common origin of all ‘Tracheates’ from some Peripatoid form.
1908 Science 17 Apr. 621/1 The Chilian O. blainvillei may be imagined to represent the last relic in America of the Peripatoid fauna of von Ihering's Archhelenis.
B. n.
A peripatoid animal; an onychophoran.
ΚΠ
1987 M. S. Laverack & J. Dando Lect. Notes Invertebr. Zool. (ed. 3) xxii. 108/2 Peripatoids select high humidity regions.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1894