velvet worm

velvet worm

n. See onychophoran.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

velvet worm - any of numerous velvety-skinned wormlike carnivorous animals common in tropical forests having characteristics of both arthropods and annelid wormsonychophoran, peripatusarthropod - invertebrate having jointed limbs and a segmented body with an exoskeleton made of chitinclass Onychophora, Onychophora - enigmatic small elongated wormlike terrestrial invertebrates of damp dark habitats in warm regions; distinct from the phylum Annelida; resemble slugs with legs and are sometimes described as the missing link between arthropods and annelidsPlicatoperipatus jamaicensis - a kind of onychophoran