Mal`a*cop"o*da (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. soft + -poda.] Zool.
A class of air-breathing Arthropoda; -- called also Protracheata, and Onychophora.
They somewhat resemble myriapods, and have from seventeen to thirty-three pairs of short, imperfectly jointed legs, two pairs of simple jaws, and a pair of antennae. The trancheae are connected with numerous spiracles scattered over the surface of the body. Peripatus is the only known genus. See Peripatus.
© Webster 1913.