1. Peripatus is a nocturnal carnivorous animal, living in rock crevices, under bark of trees, stones and moist places.
2. It has a discontinuous distribution. Found in damp forests of Africa, Malesia, Australia, South America and New Zealand.
3. It is referred as living fossil.
4. Body of the animal is cylindrical and elongated caterpillar like and measuring 4 to 6 cm in length.
5. Outer covering if the body is thin velvet, chitinous showing transverse wrinkles, numerous small tubercles.
6. Anterior end is marked by preantennae and ventral mouth and posterior end by mouth.
7. There is a head of three segments which is not clearly separate from the body.
8. Post-oral segments of the head bear a pair of hooked jaws, a pair of oral papillae, a pair of simple eyes and a pair of segmented antennae. It feeds on insects which they catch by means of slime ejected from their oral papillae.
Source:
1. Practical Zoology Invertebrates by S.S.Lal. 2. A Manual of Practical Zoology Chordates by Dr. P.S. Verma.
