Onychophora

Onychophora is a phylum of terrestrial invertebrates called velvet worms. Its soft, segmented members have paired lobopod legs and adhesive slime glands.

Lobopodia: Lobopodia are soft, unjointed limbs found in living and fossil panarthropods. Velvet worms walk on paired lobopod legs rather than jointed appendages.
Adhesive slime: Adhesive slime is a rapidly setting secretion used by some animals to entangle or attach to prey. Velvet worms eject slime from paired glands to immobilize prey and defend themselves.
Aysheaia: Aysheaia is a Cambrian lobopodian known from fossils in the Burgess Shale and elsewhere. Its fossil anatomy offers a comparison for reconstructing early relatives of velvet worms.
Biomimetics: Biomimetics applies principles observed in biological systems to the design of materials, devices, or processes. Velvet-worm slime has inspired research into fast-setting, water-based adhesives.
Peripatus juliformis: Peripatus juliformis is a species of velvet worm found in the Caribbean region. Its study contributed to early descriptions of the group and its living anatomy.
Panarthropoda: Panarthropoda is a group comprising Onychophora, Tardigrada, and Arthropoda. This broader group places velvet worms alongside tardigrades and arthropods.
Slime gland: A slime gland is a secretory organ that produces adhesive material. Each velvet worm has paired glands that expel slime through oral papillae.
Hallucigenia: Hallucigenia is a Cambrian lobopodian with a spiny body and paired walking limbs. Its unusual body plan shows the diversity of early panarthropods related to velvet worms.
Biological adhesive: A biological adhesive is a material produced by an organism that sticks to another surface or object. The slime's rapid adhesion and later hardening motivate studies of natural adhesive chemistry.
Euperipatoides rowelli: Euperipatoides rowelli is an Australian velvet worm that lives in social groups. It is a well-studied example of group living and maternal care in the phylum.

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