molting

     

In biology, moulting (or molting, also known as sheding or for some species, ecdysis) signifies the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often but not always an outer layer or covering), either at specific times of year, or at specific points in its life-cycle.

Trivia about molting

  • Often done twice a year, it's the periodic shedding & replacement of worn out feathers
  • Adult amphibians go through this skin-shedding process several times a year
  • Provide shallow water that your snake can soak in to aid this process
  • Before snakes shed their skin, also called this activity, their eyes get cloudy, then clear again
  • (Sarah of the Clue Crew delivers the clue from the Institute of Marine Sciences in UC Santa Cruz) Some crabs go through this shell-shedding process all their lives, but the sheep crab has a terminal one, after which it can't grow
  • (Paul Nicklen presents the clue.) Called oakum boys because their brown down looks like the frayed rope fiber used to caulk ships, king penguin chicks undergo this shedding process that gives them their waterproof feathers
  • The only way a shrimp can grow is to go through this process of shedding its shell & growing a new one

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