Definition of exoskeletons Exoskeletons

We found 3 definitions of exoskeletons from 2 different sources.

What does exoskeletons mean?

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Noun Plural: exoskeletons
exoskeleton - the exterior protective or supporting structure or shell of many animals (especially invertebrates) including bony or horny parts such as nails or scales or hoofs
		skeletal system, systema skeletale, skeleton, frame the hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal
		body covering any covering for the body or a body part
		invertebrate any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification

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exoskeleton (Noun)
A hard outer structure that provides both structure and protection to creatures such as insects and Crustacea.

exoskeleton (n.)
The hardened parts of the external integument of an animal, including hair, feathers, nails, horns, scales, etc.,as well as the armor of armadillos and many reptiles, and the shells or hardened integument of numerous invertebrates; external skeleton; dermoskeleton.

exoskeleton
External anatomical feature that supports and protects an animal's body. All arthropods (such as insects, spiders and crustaceans) and many other invertebrate animals (such as shelled mollusks) have exoskeletons.

exoskeleton
ek-sō-skel′e-tun, n. any structure produced by the hardening of the integument, as the scales of fish, but esp. when bony, as the carapace of the turtle, &c.—adj. Exoskel′etal. [Gr. exō, outside, skeleton.]

An exoskeleton supports and protects an animal's body from outside and not like the internal endoskeleton of - for example human beings - from inside.

Many invertebrate animals (such as shelled mollusks) have exoskeletons in the sense of external hard parts. But if one speaks of an exoskeleton one mostly means that of arthropods (i.e. insects, spiders, myriapods and crustaceans).

Exoskeletons contain rigid and resistant components that fulfil a set of functional roles including protection, excretion, sensing, support, feeding and (for terrestrial organisms) acting as a barrier against dessiccation. Exoskeletons first appeared in the fossil record about 550 million years ago, and their evolution has been seen as critical as a driving role in the Cambrian explosion of animals that took place subsequent to this time.