This weird little caterpillar-like beast is an onychophoran, a "living fossil" that is thought to be very closely related to the earliest ancestors of all arthropods. It has antennae, legs, and many body segments, but it's not nearly as anatomically complex as insects are. Onychophorans can also shoot slime from a pair of glands near their mouths, a bit like Spider-Man (but with more legs). "copyright David R. Maddison" |