Pygidium Bogotense
The pygidium (plural pygidia) is the posterior body part or shield of crustaceans and some other arthropods, such as insects and the extinct trilobites. In groups other than insects, it contains the anus and, in females, the ovipositor. It is composed of fused body segments, sometimes with a tail, and separated from Thorax, thoracic segments by an articulation.Shultz, J.W. (1990). Evolutionary Morphology And Phylogeny of Arachnida. Cladistics 6: 1–38. Chelicerates In arachnids, the pygidium is formed by reduction of the last three opisthosomal segments to rings where there is no distinction between tergites and sternites. A pygidium is present in Palpigradi, Amblypygi, Thelyphonida, Schizomida, Ricinulei and in the extinct order Trigonotarbida. It is also present in early fossil representatives of horseshoe crabs. Trilobites In trilobites, the pygidium can range from extremely small (much smaller than the head, or cephalon (arthropod head), cephalon) to larger than the cephalon ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]