What is Exoskeleton?
[[Image:Ant SEM.jpg|thumb|200px|The head of an [[ant]]: Chitin type]] An '''exoskeleton''' supports and protects an [[animal]]'s body from outside and not like the internal [[endoskeleton]] - of, for example human beings - from inside. Many [[invertebrate]] animals (such as shelled [[mollusks]]) have exoskeletons in the sense of external hard parts. But if one speaks of an exoskeleton one mostly means that of [[arthropod]]s (i.e. [[insect]]s, [[spider]]s, [[myriapods]] and [[crustacean]]s). Exoskeletons contain rigid and resistant components that fulfil a set of functional roles including protection, excretion, sensing, support, feeding and (for terrestrial organisms) acting as a barrier against desiccation. Exoskeletons first appeared in the fossil record about 550 million years ago, and their evolution has been seen as critical as a driving role in the [[Cambrian explosion]] of animals that took place after this time. The exoskeleton ( [https://aduk.de/blog/what-is-an-exoskeleton-suit/ exoskeleton suit]{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}) is a device intended to restore the lost motion functions of a person or other living being. The exoskeleton also serves to increase human muscle strength and range of motion by means of an external skeleton and drive elements. ==Other websites== ===Biology=== *[http://www.microscopy-uk.net/mag/artfeb05/cbdiatoms.html Geometry and Pattern in Nature 3: The holes in radiolarian and diatom tests] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051216081321/http://www.microscopy-uk.net/mag/artfeb05/cbdiatoms.html |date=2005-12-16 }} ===Modern technology=== * [http://pages.zoom.co.uk/bionicboots/index.html Bionic Boots] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218133432/http://pages.zoom.co.uk/bionicboots/index.html |date=2008-12-18 }} * [http://www.powerskip.de/mainpage.html PowerSkip] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005163220/http://www.powerskip.de/mainpage.html |date=2010-10-05 }} * [http://bleex.me.berke