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.

---

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

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 mandibles, like the antennae, have, in the nauplius, the form of biramous swimming limbs, with a masticatory process originating from the proximal part of the protopodite.

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

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