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toxicognath

toxicognath

9.9
A pair of front legs on a centipede that act like poison fangs
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : toxiconato
  • The centipede's toxicognath can deliver a painful bite.

Examples

  • The centipede injects venom into its prey using its toxicognaths.

  • Some species of centipedes have long toxicognaths.

  • Damage to the toxicognath can affect the centipede's ability to defend itself.

  • Scientists studied the structure of the toxicognath to understand how centipedes hunt.

  • The centipede injects venom into its prey using its toxicognath.

  • Damage to the toxicognath can affect the centipede's ability to defend itself.

  • Scientists studied the structure of the toxicognath to understand how centipedes hunt.

Synonyms

fang
vstoxicognath
  • Specialized
4 4.9

A sharp pointed part on animals like spiders or scorpions that injects venom

is specifically a front leg changed into a poison delivering biting organ in centipedes
prehensor
vstoxicognath
  • Specialized
9.9

A front pair of legs in a centipede that hold prey and inject venom

is the front leg modified into a pointed venom injector rather than just grasping

Surface Forms

toxicognath singular
toxicognaths plural

Morphology

toxicognath = toxico + gnath

The components 'toxico' and 'gnath' are not standalone English words, and their combination is specialized and not transparent to average learners.

Etymology

The word toxicognath comes from two parts: toxico- meaning 'poison', as in toxic or toxin, and -gnath meaning 'jaw'. So a toxicognath is a 'poison jaw', which explains why the word names the poison fangs made from a centipede's front pair of legs.