An appendage in the broadest sense is an additional or subsidiary part existing on, or added to, something which can generally still function if the appendage has never existed or is later provided or grown, or will still perform a primary function if the appendage is removed.

Biological context

An appendage is an external body part, or natural prolongation, that protrudes from an organism's body, such as a vertebrate's limbs. Vertebrates are members of the Subphylum Vertebrata, Chordates with backbones or spinal columns The grouping sometimes includes A limb (from the Old English lim) is a jointed or Prehensile (as Octopus tentacles or new world Monkey tails Appendage of the

In invertebrate biology, "appendage" is a general term that covers any of the homologous body parts that may extend from a body segment. An invertebrate is an Animal lacking a Vertebral column. The group includes 98% of all animal Species — all animals except those in the Chordate Foundations of modern biology There are five unifying principles In Evolutionary biology, homology has come to mean any similarity between characters that is due to their shared ancestry. Segmentation in biology refers to the division of some Metazoan bodies and Plant body plans into a series of semi-repetitive segments and the question of These include antennae, mouthparts (including mandibles, maxillae and maxillipeds), wings, elytra, gills, walking legs (pereiopods), swimming legs (pleopods), sexual organs (gonopods), and parts of the tail (uropods). Antennae (singular antenna) are paired Appendages connected to the front-most segments of Arthropods In Crustaceans they are The mouthparts of Arthropods have evolved into a number of forms each adapted to a different style or mode of feeding The mandible (from Latin mandibula, "jawbone" or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower Jaw and holds the lower teeth in place This article is about the Mammal maxilla For Arthropod maxillae see Mouthparts; for Insect maxillae in particular see Insect mouthparts The decapod Crustacean such as a crab lobster shrimp or prawn is made up of nineteen Body segments grouped into two main body parts the Cephalothorax Insect wings are outgrowths of the Insect Exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. An elytron (plural elytra) is a modified hardened Forewing of certain Insect orders notably Beetles (Coleoptera and true bugs ( Hemiptera A gill is an anatomical structure found in many aquatic organisms The arthropod leg is a form of jointed Appendage of Arthropods usually used for Walking. The decapod Crustacean such as a crab lobster shrimp or prawn is made up of nineteen Body segments grouped into two main body parts the Cephalothorax The decapod Crustacean such as a crab lobster shrimp or prawn is made up of nineteen Body segments grouped into two main body parts the Cephalothorax The decapod Crustacean such as a crab lobster shrimp or prawn is made up of nineteen Body segments grouped into two main body parts the Cephalothorax The decapod Crustacean such as a crab lobster shrimp or prawn is made up of nineteen Body segments grouped into two main body parts the Cephalothorax Typically, each body segment carries one pair of appendages.

Appendages may be uniramous, as in insects and centipedes, where each appendage comprises a single series of segments, or it may be biramous, as in many crustaceans, where each appendage branches into two sections. Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described Centipedes (from Latin prefix centi-, "hundred" and Greek ποδός podos, " Foot " are Structure of crustaceans As Arthropods crustaceans have a stiff Exoskeleton, which must be shed to allow the animal to grow ( Ecdysis or molting Triramous (branching into three) appendages are also possible.

All arthropod appendages are variations of the same basic structure (homologous), and which structure is produced is controlled by "homeobox" genes. A homeobox is a DNA sequence found within Genes that are involved in the regulation of patterns of development ( Morphogenesis) in Animals Changes to these genes have allowed scientists to produce animals (chiefly Drosophila melanogaster) with modified appendages, such as legs instead of antennae. Drosophila melanogaster (from the Greek for black-bellied dew-lover) is a two-winged insect that belongs to the Diptera, the order

Linguistic context

In British English, depending on the surrounding context, "appendage" might infer that the added words to which it refers give a more precise meaning to a name or description or else it might be used in a derogatory sense to describe an addition which appears to serve no useful function. British English or UK English ( BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the

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