‖ protracheata, n. pl. Zool.
(prəʊtrækɪˈeɪtə)
[mod.L., f. pro-2 + Trachēāta: so called as representing the supposed ancestral form of all the tracheate Arthropoda (i.e. insects, myriapods, and most arachnids).]
A class of arthropodous animals, represented by the single genus Peripatus (Peripatus2). Hence proˈtracheate, a. belonging to the Protracheata; n. an animal of this class.
| 1878 Bell Gegenbaur's Comp. Anat. 255 In the Protracheata the nervous system remains in a lower condition. 1879 Athenæum 19 July 83/1 One of his hypothetical animals, a protracheate, may be said to have been actually discovered..in the primitive air-breathing Arthropod Peripatus. |