Pauropod

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tiny soil-dwelling arthropod related to millipedes, with branched antennae and only a few pairs of legs per body segment
2. Any member of a small group of minute, pale, many-legged creatures found in leaf litter and soil, distinguished by forked feelers
3. A minute centipede-like invertebrate that lives in damp soil and decaying matter and has branching antennae and a soft body

Etymology: Pauropods are tiny, pale, many-legged creatures that live in leaf litter and soil, and their name is a compound of two Greek words. "Pauros" means "small" or "few," and "pous" means "foot," so the name literally means "few-footed," a description that is ironic given that most pauropods have many more legs than most people would expect from the name. The word was formed in modern scientific Latin, following the convention naturalists used to name animal groups from Greek roots. It was not used by the ancient Greeks, who had no concept of this animal. Taxonomists coined it when they recognized pauropods as a distinct group of myriapods, the wider class that includes millipedes and centipedes.