Arthropods

We can all recognise an arthropod.

Arthropods are all animals with a jointed exoskeleton. This means they have a tough outer skeleton and their legs and bodies are hinged, or jointed, to allow for movement. Arthropods grow by shedding their exoskeleton and growing a new one.

Arthropods include insects, crustaceans (like lobsters and crabs) and other animals, millipedes, centipedes, spiders and scorpions. There are also many extinct groups of arthropods that we only know from fossils. Probably the most important of these are the trilobites.

Because the arthropods are split into lots of different groups we have brought the wheel back - well the the arthropod bit of the wheel anyway!
Click on the different sections on the wheel to learn about each group.

The arthropod wheel
The arthropods are split into different groups. Here we will look at the trilobites, crustaceans, insects and other fossil arthropods.

Arthropods
Trilobites
Crustaceans
Insects
Other fossil arthropods

If you read these pages you should become an expert invertebrate identifier!
The major groups are listed below - select a link to learn more about this type of fossil.

Sponges Corals
Molluscs Brachiopods
Arthropods Graptolites
Echinoderms Return to the wheel

If you know it all already, return to the Homepage or test yourself with our Quiz!