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Multiple Choice

Which statement about arthropod growth is true?

Growth in arthropods relies on molting the outer skeleton. Their exoskeleton, made of chitin, is rigid and cannot stretch as the animal increases in size. To grow, an arthropod sheds this old exoskeleton (a process called ecdysis) and then forms a larger one. Hormones regulate when molts happen, with ecdysone triggering the molt and other hormonal signals guiding the timing and progression. After shedding, the new cuticle is soft and gradually hardens as the organism expands inside it, enabling another round of growth before the next molt. The other statements don’t fit because arthropods do not have an internal skeleton; they have an external one. They are not generally hermaphroditic; most have separate sexes. And they are not non-cellular; their bodies are composed of cells like other animals.

Growth in arthropods relies on molting the outer skeleton. Their exoskeleton, made of chitin, is rigid and cannot stretch as the animal increases in size. To grow, an arthropod sheds this old exoskeleton (a process called ecdysis) and then forms a larger one. Hormones regulate when molts happen, with ecdysone triggering the molt and other hormonal signals guiding the timing and progression. After shedding, the new cuticle is soft and gradually hardens as the organism expands inside it, enabling another round of growth before the next molt.

The other statements don’t fit because arthropods do not have an internal skeleton; they have an external one. They are not generally hermaphroditic; most have separate sexes. And they are not non-cellular; their bodies are composed of cells like other animals.