Shed (Adjective)
Meaning
Shed at an early stage of development; "most amphibians have caducous gills"; "the caducous calyx of a poppy".
Classification
All adjective clusters.
Examples
- Like most amphibians, this species has caducous gills that are shed at an early stage of development, but the shed skin remains a functional respiratory organ for a short time.
- Birds are equipped with several modified teeth-like structures in the beak that act as tiny, caducous gill-rakers which shed prematurely as the chick develops inside its egg.
- Caducous or shed leaves fall off a plant in a similar way to deciduous ones but they leave a noticeable scar as the leaf-stalks are short and tightly attached to the tree.
- Adult dragonflies lack these lost features, including breathing tubes attached to the base of their abdomen which function as a modified caducous tracheal system that shed early in their lives.
- Some protostomes display multiple patterns of development in their larvae, characterized by a shed embryonic exoskeleton, development of various segmented post-naupliar cuticular setae or morphogenesis.