Greek  arthron = joint,   pous = foot

Crusty (with an external skeleton made of largely of chitin) animals that have segmented bodies and appendages that can be divided into the cephalum (head), thorax and abdomen (although in some arthropods like the crabs the abdomen is effectively hidden by the carapace). The hard external skeleton (exoskeleton) does not grow and has to be replaced by a new one growing underneath: ecdysis.

Homepage
Index