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Story: Peripatus

Shedding skin

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Shedding skin

As they grow, peripatus shed their thin outer skin every few weeks. The new skin has a liquid film, making it easier to shed the old skin, which the peripatus eats, to recycle the nutrients. The peripatus can digest solid matter (in the form of its own skin) as well as its usual liquid diet.

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by Dianne Gleeson

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How to cite this page

Paddy Ryan, Peripatus – Reproduction, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/13268/shedding-skin (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Paddy Ryan, published 1 March 2009.