Plural of apod; animals that lack feet or functional limbs, such as snakes or some fish.
From Ancient Greek apous (ἄπους), meaning 'footless,' with the -s plural marker added in English.
Historically, scientists classified all apods—snakes, eels, maggots—together because they seemed obviously related, until they realized these creatures evolved without legs independently many times, showing how evolution reuses solutions.
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