Any small aquatic crustacean with leaf-like appendages that function as both gills and swimming legs.
From Greek 'branchia' (gill) + 'pous' (foot). Describes the distinctive feature where limbs evolved gill-like projections, combining locomotion and respiration.
Branchiopods like brine shrimp can survive as dried eggs for decades and hatch instantly when water returns—they're evolution's backup plan and scientists use them to study extreme survival.
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