protopodite

American  

[proh-top-uh-dahyt] / proʊˈtɒp əˌdaɪt /

Also protopod

noun

Zoology.

1. the basal portion of a two-branched crustacean leg or other appendage.

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Other Word Forms

• protopoditic adjective

Etymology

Origin of protopodite

First recorded in 1865–70; proto- + pod- + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Instead of having a spiny, triangular protopodite for processing food, they had a smooth, rounded structure attached to a short, flexible fingerlike endopodite that was just half the length of the creature’s other walking legs.

From New York Times • May 6, 2022

The standard trilobite limb is segmented into three distinct portions — a walking leg, or endopodite, and a gill structure, the exopodite, are connected to the body by a spiny food-processing section, the protopodite.

From New York Times • May 6, 2022

The chelæ were measured from the inner angle of the joint of the protopodite to the angle of articulation with the dactylopodite.

From Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 Containing Sixteen Experimental Investigations from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory. by Münsterberg, Hugo

As a rule the protopodite is composed of two segments, though one may be reduced or suppressed and occasionally three may be present.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various

The two distal endites are regarded as corresponding to the endopodite and exopodite of the higher Crustacea, the axis or corm of the Phyllopod limb representing the protopodite.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various