Back in 1995 I read, cover to cover, The Biology of Scorpions (Stanford University Press), a 587 page book that summarized everything known about these feared arthropods; and I asked myself: why is there no similar book about velvet worms? These worms, also known as “onychophorans”, with their placentas, Spiderman-like hunting nets, and over 500 million years of history, would certainly be fit for a fascinating book.
