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Biology / Unit 13   Bio 3083 short lesson, about 20 seconds

Exoskeleton Structure and Molting

Captions available

The idea

An exoskeleton is a rigid external covering, often built from chitin, that an arthropod must periodically shed and regrow through molting in order to grow larger, per Bio 2725's size constraint.

In practice

A molting crab is briefly soft-shelled and vulnerable until its new, larger exoskeleton hardens.

Where people slip

Molting is a discrete event, not continuous growth — the body cannot enlarge between molts.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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