Question

Peripatus belongs to
(a)Arachnida
(b)Insecta
(c)Crustacea
(d)Onychophora

Answer 1

Hint This group of organisms are commonly known as velvet worms or more ambiguously as peripatus. It is a phylum of elongated, soft-bodied, numerous-legged panarthropoda.

Complete answer:
Velvet worms belong to the phylum Onychophora. This phylum contains about 70 wormlike species of ancient, terrestrial invertebrates with short, thick legs and a dry, velveteen body. Onychophorans can be 14 to 150 mm in size (about 0.6 to 6 inches). They can be mainly found in rainforests. They can not tolerate dry habitats as they are unable to control water loss.
Peripatus, belongs to the group of velvet worms and is a commonly found genus in the West Indies, Central America, and the northern parts of South America. Some 20 species of Peripatus are known. They generally have an elongated body that consists of 14 to 44 trunk segments and each segment has a pair of short legs. The number of segments may also differ in different species. The dry, velvety skin of these animals changes in colour to match the surroundings and ranges from dark slate to reddish brown, with a darker median stripe on the back.

Additional information:
Also considered as a living fossil, Peripatus shows some features that are intermediate between Arthropoda and Annelida and retain a large number of archaic features that are very similar to the above two phylum.
The animals which display certain features of two different groups of animals are termed as a connecting link. Peripatus can be categorised as a primitive arthropod having characteristic features such as jointed paired legs, compound eyes and tracheas like other arthropods but it also displays certain features similar to annelids, such as worm-like segmented body, non-chitinous cuticle and segmental nephridia. Thus, it is known to form a connecting link between the two phylums namely Annelida and Arthropoda.

So, the correct answer is ‘Onychophora’.

Notes: The phylum Onychophora consists of only two main families, Peripatidae and Peripatopsidae. These groups exhibit a strange pattern in terms of distribution, with the peripatoides which are primarily found in equatorial and tropical regions, while the peripatopsis are all found in the regions that are mainly south of the equator. It is the only phylum within Kingdom Animalia that is wholly native to terrestrial environments.