Describing an organism or body part that has cilia, hairs, or bristles of different types, sizes, or arrangements.
From Greek 'hetero-' and 'trich-' plus the adjective suffix '-ous,' used in biological descriptions since the 1800s.
When biologists describe something as 'heterotrichous,' they're noticing something special: non-uniformity at the microscopic level, which often indicates specialized functions in different body regions.
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