zoonite

plural zoonites · alternative zoönite

1. archaicbiologyOne of the segments of the body of an articulated animal, sometimes regarded as a distinct organism.

   An organite is always dependent, its life is always subordinate to that of the individual of which it forms a part; a zoonite is always independent, it has a life peculiar to itself.

   1843, The Medical Times, volume 7, page 183

   1 more example

   When there is budding the somite which proliferates is the pre-anal in Myrianida and certain species of Autolytus; the anal segment is, from the first, too differentiated to take part in the formation of new zoonites.

   1891, Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, page 195

   Synonyms: zoonule, zoönule