An external skeleton that provides structural support and protection for the body, found in arthropods like insects, crustaceans, and spiders. Unlike internal skeletons, exoskeletons must be shed and replaced as the animal grows.
From Greek 'exo' meaning outside and 'skeleton' from Greek 'skeletos' meaning dried up body. The term was coined in the 1800s as biologists distinguished between internal and external skeletal systems.
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