acanthopod
n. C2 Proficiency acan·tho·pod
n. a type of ancient sea creature with a hard shell and many legs. It lived in the ocean millions of years ago and is known from fossils.
n. a member of the extinct group of arthropods characterized by a segmented body, a hard exoskeleton, and numerous pairs of legs. Often used in paleontological contexts to describe early trilobite-like forms.
The fossil of an acanthopod was found in the limestone.
Paleontologists studied the acanthopod remains to understand the evolution of early marine arthropods during the Cambrian period.
The discovery of the acanthopod in the Burgess Shale provided critical evidence for the rapid diversification of complex life forms during the Cambrian explosion.