liminality

en-noun

liminality (countable and uncountable, plural liminalities)

The second way Novalis seeks to repotentize his thought is by striving to evoke feelings conducive to liminality.

1998, Joseph Frederick Bailey, Theorizing night vision: Novalis's "Hymnen an die Nacht.", page 209:

(anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology) The state or quality of ambiguity which exists in the middle stage of certain events or rituals (such as a rite of passage or a society-wide revolution), during which the participating individual or group no longer holds its pre-ritual status but has not yet attained the status it will hold when the ritual has been completed.


manuport

From Latin manū (“with a hand”) portāre (“to carry”).

(archaeology) A natural (not man-made) object of an excavation site, which was originally brought into the site by humans.


archaeometry

(archaeology) The application of techniques and methodologies of the natural sciences to archaeology, mostly for dating, analysis, survey and confirmation of provenance or authenticity.

arkeometria

the application of scientific techniques and methodologies to archaeology


cetartiodactyl

Cetartiodactyls are by far the most populous of the two ungulate groups today, but it wasn’t always so.

2018 March 7, Elsa Panciroli, The Guardian:

(zoology) Any of a large group of animals, of the clade Cetartiodactyla, including the whales and even-toed ungulates.


notum

(zoology) The back; the dorsal side of the thorax in insects or nudibranches.


Barbary lion

Barbary lions had been believed extinct in the wild since the mid-twentieth century, survived only by a few odds and bods of DNA carried in captive individuals descended from Haile Selassie's private collection.

Panthera leo leo
Panthera leo leo#Translingual

(zoology) Any of the North African population, now extinct in the wild, of the lion subspecies Panthera leo leo.


beakhead

(archaeology) An ornament used in rich Norman doorways, resembling a head with a beak.


paedophagy

From paedo- (“youth; young”) + -phagy, from Ancient Greek φάγος (phágos).

(zoology, of animals) The act of feeding off larvae or eggs.


Basenji

From Lingala mbwá na basɛ́nzi (“dogs of the savages; dogs of the villagers”). First use appears c. 1906.

der

(zoology) A hunting dog of a particular African breed.


Alaskan Malamute

en-noun

Alaskan Malamute (plural Alaskan Malamutes)

(zoology) A relatively large breed of sled dog, sometimes mistaken for the Siberian Husky.

阿拉斯加马拉穆

Ālāsījiā mǎlāmù


musteloid

(zoology) Any of many mammals of the superfamily Musteloidea, including the weasels, raccoons, red pandas, and skunks.


green bottle fly

green bottle fly (plural green bottle flies)

(entomology) Any of the flies in the genus Lucilia (alias Phaenicia).

groene vleesvlieg

flies in the genera Lucilia and Phaenicia


fulicine

en-adj

fulicine (comparative more fulicine, superlative most fulicine)

more fulicine (comparative)
most fulicine (superlative)

From translingual Fulica (genus name) + -ine.

The tarso-metatarsus is also typically Fulicine…

1896, C. W. Andrews, NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE. VOL. III. (ON THE EXTINCT BIRDS OF THE CHATHAM ISLANDS. PART II.), page 265

(ornithology, rare) Of, or pertaining to coots.


ralline

ralline (comparative more ralline, superlative most ralline)

more ralline (comparative)
most ralline (superlative)

From scientific Latin Rallidae (family name).

(ornithology, rare) Of, or pertaining to members of the Rallidae family (also referred to as rails).


maskette

(archaeology) A small mask, especially one that does not cover the whole head.


zoonomy

(zoology) The laws of animal life, or the science dealing with the phenomena of animal life and their causes and relations.


matrifocal

matrifocal (comparative more matrifocal, superlative most matrifocal)

more matrifocal (comparative)
most matrifocal (superlative)

(anthropology) Family structure in which mothers head families and fathers play a less important role in the home and in bringing up children.


matrilateral

(anthropology) Related through one's maternal side.


brevipennate

(ornithology) short-winged; having short wings.


uncontacted

(anthropology, of a tribal society) Without regular contact with non-tribal societies.


trochilidine

trochilidine (comparative more trochilidine, superlative most trochilidine)

more trochilidine (comparative)
most trochilidine (superlative)

From translingual Trochilidae (family name).

Trochilidine literature has never entirely recovered from its effect.

1892, Robert Ridgway, THE HUMMING BIRDS., page 261:

(ornithology, rare) Of, or pertaining to hummingbirds.


zoonite

An organite is always dependent, its life is always subordinate to that of the individual of which it forms a part; a zoonite is always independent, it has a life peculiar to itself.

1843, The Medical Times, volume 7, page 183:

When there is budding the somite which proliferates is the pre-anal in Myrianida and certain species of Autolytus; the anal segment is, from the first, too differentiated to take part in the formation of new zoonites.

1891, Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, page 195:

(zoology, archaic) One of the segments of the body of an articulated animal, sometimes regarded as a distinct organism.


Xanthochroi

Coined by Thomas Henry Huxley, from Ancient Greek ξανθός (xanthós, “fair, yellow, golden, blond”), and either χρώς (khrṓs, “skin”), or ὠχρός (ōkhrós, “pale”).

der

The furthermost limit of the Xanthochroi north-westward is Iceland and the British Isles

1865, Thomas H. Huxley, On the Methods and Results of Ethnology:

(dated, anthropology) A division of the human population having fair skin and wavy blond hair.


aeroscopy

From Ancient Greek ἁεροσκοπία (haeroskopía, “divination by observing the heavens”), from ἀήρ (aḗr, “air”) + σκοπέω (skopéō, “I examine”).


rhizophagy

From rhizo- (“root”) + -phagy (“to feed on”).

The possibility of rhizophagous behavior has been associated with analysis of earthworm gizzard or gut contents for ingested root fragments. Proving active rhizophagy with this method is difficult.... (1999-P. Lavelle, Earthworm Management in Tropical Agroecosystems, CABI, P. 116)


cross-cousin

Many societies forbid marriage between parallel cousins, but encourage marriage between cross-cousins or second cross-cousins.

(anthropology) The child of one's father's sister or of one's mother's brother; a cousin related via opposite-gender siblings rather than same-gender ones (the latter being a parallel cousin).

geparenca kuzo

relationship between two cousins or two groups of cousins whose parents are brother and sister, respectively


unworked

en-adj

unworked (comparative more unworked, superlative most unworked)

more unworked (comparative)
most unworked (superlative)

From Middle English unwerked, unwerched, equivalent to un- + worked. Doublet of unwrought.

Dozens of unworked obsidian cobbles were found buried with the deceased.

(archaeology) Describing an unaltered material found associated with human tool-making or other cultural activity.


apterygial

(zoology) That lacks limbs, fins or wings.


papula

(zoology) One of the numerous small hollow processes of the integument between the plates of starfishes.


achaetous

Achaetous gill-less tails are a typical trait for the juvenile stage of development in species of Arenicolidae (phylum Annelida).


posthole

Indentations in the floor were interpreted as postholes and slots that once anchored wooden furniture.

2007 January 31, John Noble Wilford, “Village May Have Housed Builders of Stonehenge”, in New York Times:

(archaeology) A cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone, usually much deeper than it is wide.


imbrex

(archaeology) A roof tile common in Ancient Greek and Roman architecture, used in an overlapping formation with the tegula.


selachian

selachian (comparative more selachian, superlative most selachian)

more selachian (comparative)
most selachian (superlative)

From the (disused) genus name Selache, from Latin selachē, from the plural of Ancient Greek σέλαχος (sélakhos, “shark”).

der

Fig. 4-10 shows crude apparatus which was used to make rough measurements of the vertical forces produced by selachian tails.

1981, R. McNeill Alexander, The Chordates, page 104:

Telling selachian sharks apart from batoid skates and rays is relatively easy (with some exceptions noted below), but telling skates (rajiforms) apart from rays (myliobatiforms) can be more challenging.

2014, Gene Helfman, George H. Burgess, Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide, page 8:

(zoology) Pertaining to (what is now classified as) the superorder Selachimorpha or division Selachii, comprising the sharks; or, sometimes more broadly, to the subclass Elasmobranchii, including sharks, rays and related species.

хрущялен

pertaining to the superorder Selachiformes


selachian

However, some selachians enter freshwater and a few, like the stingray Paratrygon motoro, are even restricted to freshwater.

1999, William C Hamlett, editor, Sharks, Skates, and Rays: The Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes, page 300:

(zoology) Any organism of the superorder Selachimorpha or subclass Elasmobranchii; an extant shark (or related species).


dëalate

en-adj

dëalate (comparative more dëalate, superlative most dëalate)

more dëalate (comparative)
most dëalate (superlative)

(entomology) Alternative spelling of dealate


dealated

(entomology) Having shed or lost its wings, usually in the normal course of its life cycle.


dealate

(entomology) Having lost or shed its wings, usually in the normal course of its life cycle.


dealate

(entomology) A creature that has lost or shed its wings.


unlogged

(zoology) Where logging (cutting down of trees) has not taken place.


cist

Borrowed from Welsh cist (“chest”) (see kistvaen), from Latin cista (“chest, casket”), see above.

A central stone slab cist containing the burial was surrounded by a circles of stones placed on edge, probably to represent the round house in which the deceased had lived.

2019, Alan Staniforth, Cleveland Way, page 66:

(archaeology) A crypt cut into rock, chalk, or a tree trunk, especially a coffin formed by placing stone slabs on edge and topping them with a horizontal slab or slabs.


scutellum

Borrowed from New Latin scūtellum, diminutive of Latin scūtum (“shield”).

Any of several shield-shaped structures in insects, grasses etc

(zoology) The third of the four pieces forming the upper part of a thoracic segment of an insect. It follows the scutum, and is followed by the small postscutellum.

(zoology) One of the transverse scales on the tarsi and toes of birds.


sensillum

Borrowed from German Sensillum, from New Latin sensillum, diminutive of Latin sēnsus (“perception, feeling”). Coined by German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician and artist Ernst Haeckel in Systematische Phylogenie (1895).

coinage

(zoology) A sensory receptor in certain invertebrates, especially arthropods.


zoönule

(zoology) Alternative spelling of zoonule


Hittitologist

(anthropology, linguistics) an archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in the study of the Ancient Hittites and their Near Eastern Empire which was based in Hattusa in modern day Anatolia.


zalambdodont

(zoology) Having teeth with two ridges that meet at an angle, forming the letter lambda.


sicula

(zoology) The hard, triangular apex of a graptolite from which it grows.


zoöerythrine

(zoology) Alternative spelling of zooerythrin


zoögeny

(zoology) Alternative spelling of zoogeny


mesofurca

(entomology) The internal skeletal element of the mesosternum.


mesosternum

(entomology) The ventral piece of the middle segment of the thorax.


megacephalic

en-adj

megacephalic (comparative more megacephalic, superlative most megacephalic)

more megacephalic (comparative)
most megacephalic (superlative)

(botany, zoology) Having an extremely large head.


rock shelter

(archaeology) A shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff, a frequent location of prehistoric archeological sites.


xiphosauran

(zoology) Any of many marine chelicerates of the order Xiphosura, the horseshoe crabs.


xenarthran

/zəˈnɑɹθɹən/

From Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos, “strange”) + ἄρθρον (árthron, “joint”).

Elephant-shrews, xenarthrans, hystricognathous rodents, cetaceans, some pinnipeds, and primates depart sharply from this trend, however.

1978, Terry A. Vaughan, James M. Ryan, Nicholas J. Czaplewski, Mammalogy, page 355:

Xenarthrans appear to have originated in South America and to have undergone their major adaptive radiation there (Reig 1981).

2000, John F. Eisenberg, Kent H. Redford, Mammals of the Neotropics, volume 3, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, page 90:

Only four xenarthran families are extant today, providing little indication of the past richness of the order.

2008, Christine Argot, “3: Changing Views in Paleontology: The Story of a Giant (Megatherium, Xenarthra)”, in Eric J. Sargis, Marian Dagosto, editors, Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology: A Tribute to Frederick S. Szalay, page 37:

2010, Ana Maria Jansen, André Luiz Rodrigues Roque, 11: Domestic and Wild Mammalian Reservoirs, Jenny Telleria, Michel Tibayrenc, American Trypanosomiasis: Chagas Disease: One Hundred Years of Research, page 249,
Marsupials and xenarthrans, which represented the autochthonous mammalian fauna, were T. cruzi’s first hosts.

(zoology) Any mammal of the superorder Xenarthra, of the Americas; an anteater, armadillo or sloth.


zoanthid

(zoology) Any member of the order Zoanthidea of cnidarians commonly found in coral reefs and other marine environments.


homochromy

(zoology) The use, by an organism, of the same colour as its background as a means of protection

taustaväritys

the use of the same colour as its background


homodont

(zoology) Having teeth that are all of the same type.

azonos típusú fogakkal rendelkező

having teeth that are all of the same type


homodont

(zoology) Any organism with teeth all of the same type.


homocercal

(ichthyology) Describing the symmetric tail of a fish that has two lobes extending from the end of the vertebral column.


calling name

(anthropology, linguistics) The name by which a person is normally identified in conversation.

roepnaam

name by which a person is identified in conversation


boose

From Middle English bousen (verb) and bouse (noun).

1922, A.E Housman, "The Oracles"
'Tis true there's better boose than brine, but he that drowns must drink it;
And oh, my lass, the news is news that men have heard before.

Sucking duck eggs by God till further orders. Keep him off the boose, see? O, by God, Blazes is a hairy chap.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 8]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:


boose

en-verb

boose (third-person singular simple present booses, present participle boosing, simple past and past participle boosed)

booses (present singular third-person)
boosing (participle present)
boosed (participle past)
boosed (past)

Why, you would not be boosing till lightman's in a square crib like mine, as if you were in a flash panny?

1828, Edward Bulwer Lytton Baron Lytton, Pelham, Or, Adventures of a Gentleman:


protostoma

From proto- + Ancient Greek στόμα (stóma, “mouth”).

af

The protostoma with its wall—the protorhabdion—is the major part of the stoma.

1968, Konstantin Ivanovich Skirabin, Key to Parasitic Nematodes, volume 1:

Conventionally, the stoma is divided into three parts: the anterior chamber or cheilostoma, the middle or protostoma, and the posterior or telostoma.

1977, Ivan Antonovich Rubtsov, Aquatic Mermithidae of the Fauna of the USSR:

(zoology) In nematodes, a particular division of the stoma (mouthlike opening).


strepsirrhine

From Strepsirrhini (“a taxon of Primates”), itself formed from Ancient Greek στρέψις (strépsis, “a turning [inward]”) + ῥινός (rhinós, “nose”), referring to the sinuous (comma-shaped) appearance of the nostrils on the rhinarium (wet nose).

uder

(zoology) Any member of the clade Strepsirrhini, one of the two suborders of primates, besides haplorhines (which includes monkeys and apes).


lineate

en-adj

lineate (comparative more lineate, superlative most lineate)

more lineate (comparative)
most lineate (superlative)

Latin lineatus, past participle of lineare (“to reduce to a straight line”).


cascader

(entomology) Any of various species of dragonfly of the genus Zygonyx, family Libellulidae, which commonly inhabit watercourses with waterfalls.


funicle

From Latin fūniculus (“cord”), diminutive from fūnis (“cord”) + -culus.

(entomology) Intermediate segments of the antenna of chalcid wasps adjoining the pedicel basally and the clava distally.


queenlike

queenlike (comparative more queenlike, superlative most queenlike)

more queenlike (comparative)
most queenlike (superlative)

Although the laying workers functioned in a queenlike manner, they were unable to suppress ovarian development as effectively as the queen.

1991, Kenneth G Ross, Robert W Matthews, The social biology of wasps:

(zoology) Resembling or characteristic of a queen (reproductive female animal).


waheela

Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories

A wolflike cryptid reported from Nahanni Valley in the Northwest Territories of Canada.


gazeka

Coined by its inventor, the English comic actor George Graves (1876-1949), who introduced it as a bit of by-play in the musical The Little Michus at Daly's Theatre, London, in 1905.

A fictional cryptid said to have been seen on Papua New Guinea in the early twentieth century, resembling a tapir or giant sloth.


devil bird

Residents of Sri Lanka, an island nation off the southern coast of India, describe a devil bird — also known as ulama — that is seldom seen but often heard at night, when it utters an eerie cry like that of “a boy in torture, whose screams are stopped by being strangled.“

2009, Michael Newton, Hidden Animals: A Field Guide to Batsquatch, Chupacabra, and Other Elusive Creatures:

An avian cryptid of Sri Lanka, said to emit human-sounding shrieks that portend death; possibly the spot-bellied eagle owl (Bubo nipalensis) or Ceylon highland nightjar (Caprimulgus indicus).


sigbin

(cryptozoology) A cryptid resembling a kangaroo or a deer.


waitoreke

Borrowed from Maori. The etymology is disputed. The first syllable is probably from Proto-Eastern Polynesian *wai (“water”), from Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *wai, from Proto-Polynesian *wai, from Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ. Maori toreke (“be left behind, forsaken”) can be found in dictionaries.

m+

A cryptid of New Zealand, said variously to be a mammal resembling an otter, platypus or beaver, and to live in rivers.


lusca

Clipping of Mollusca. (Mol)lusca; a phylum containing octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and other cephalopods.

The lusca, he said, was a terrible creature, like a monstrous octopus or cuttlefish.

For the same lusca had attacked his boat only a few weeks later.

1999, Robert Forrest Burgess, The Cave Divers:

[…] the half-dragon, half-octopus Lusca, which whirlpools its victims to a watery death.

2008, Ryan Ver Berkmoes, Amy C Balfour, Paul Clammer, Michael Grosberg, Caribbean Islands:

A folkloric sea monster of the Caribbean resembling a giant octopus/squid, or giant cuttlefish; or shark-headed cephalopod-tentacle armed creature (sharktopus).


malaxation

en-noun

malaxation (countable and uncountable, plural malaxations)

(entomology) A kneading or softening, especially the chewing and squeezing by which certain species of hunting wasps prepare captured prey as food for their larvae.


rainbow runner

Rainbow runners are fished for food and sport in warm waters.

(zoology) The marine fish species Elagatis bipinnulata, which is brilliantly striped yellow and blue


winter coat

Regal ermine is made of the weasely stoat's winter coat

(zoology) An animal's seasonal appearance in winter, notably thicker and/or otherwise camouflaged plumage or fur after (often autumnal) moulting


astrapothere

(zoology) Any of several extinct, hoofed, herbivorous mammals, of the order Astrapotheria, from Cenozoic South America.


ethnolinguistic

Baker (1972) identified four varieties of Mauritian creole associated with different ethnolinguistic groups.

1989, John Holm, Pidgins and Creoles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 398:

(anthropology) Associated with a particular ethnicity and a particular variety of language.


cursorial

en-adj

cursorial (comparative more cursorial, superlative most cursorial)

more cursorial (comparative)
most cursorial (superlative)

The limbs of the horse are cursorial.

The ostrich is a cursorial bird.

(zoology) Having legs fitted for running.


coxal

Borrowed from Medieval Latin or Late Latin coxalis, from Latin coxa.


archeometry

(archaeology) The application of the various techniques of science to archeology.

archeometria

the application of the various techniques of science to archeology


viverrid

(zoology) Any member of the family Viverridae


forearm bone

(zoology) The ulna or the fused ulna and radius, which may be the sole bone of the forelimb or the strongest bone of the forelimb.


sexual cannibalism

(zoology) A type of cannibalism in animals, whereby the female devours the male after, or during, copulation.


phragmocone

This ability to continuously add new buoyancy chambers to their phragmocones allowed ancient cephalopods to reach truly stupendous sizes.

2017, Danna Staaf, Squid Empire, ForeEdge, →ISBN, page 37:

(malacology) The chambered portion of the shell of certain cephalopods, divided by septa into camerae.


siphuncle

An extra-salty siphuncle naturally absorbs water from the phragmocone chambers, and the empty space left behind is filled with gases diffusing out from the blood.

(zoology) A strand of tissue passing longitudinally through the shell of a cephalopod, used primarily in emptying water from new chambers as the shell grows.


ectopterygoid

(zoology) A certain ventral bone of reptiles or fish


acrocirrid

(zoology) Any of many polychaete worms of the family Acrocirridae


dromæognathism

/ˌdɹɒmiːˈɒɡnəθɪzm/

Dromæognathism (Gr. δρομαῖος, dromaios, a runner : genus-name of the emeu). All the Ratite birds, and the tinamous of Carinate birds, are dromæognathous.

1890, Elliott Coues, Handbook of Field and General Ornithology: A Manual of the Structure and Classification of Birds, Macmillan, page 249:

(ornithology) The particular arrangement in palatal structure typified by the emu and the other (now extinct) species of the genus Dromaius.


dromaeognathous

/ˌdɹɒmiːˈɒɡnəθəs/

Coined by Thomas Henry Huxley: binomial translingual Dromæus (“Dromaius”) (from Ancient Greek δρομαῖος (dromaîos, “swift-running”)) + Ancient Greek γνάθος (gnáthos, “jaw”) + English -ous, adjectival suffix

der

The fourth principal type, the dromæognathous, is not found in any Indian birds.

1895, Eugene William Oates, William Thomas Blanford, Birds, volume 3, Taylor and Francis, page v:

From the fact that the dromæognathous skull is more reptilian than any other type, it would seem that the Ratitæ diverged early from the carinate stock.

1921, William Aitcheson Haswell, A Text-book of Zoology, 3rd edition, volume 2, Macmillan, page 431:

It is well known that the membrane bones of the ostrich palate have a dromæognathous arrangement which is closer to the lacertilian plan than to the characteristic bird type where palatines and pterygoids slide upon a central rostrum.

1937, Zoological Society of London, “Proceedings”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 107, part 2, page 225:

Ægithognathous.—One of the four types of palatal structure distinguished by Huxley. The Dromæognathous type, with large vomer,¹ found in Ratites (Ostrich-like birds) is sharply defined from the others (in which the vomer is more or less reduced), but the latter are by no means so clearly separated from one another, and are connected to a great extent by intermediate conditions.

1938: Harry Forbes Witherby, Francis Charles Robert Jourdain, Norman Frederic Ticehurst, and Bernard William Tucker, The Handbook of British Birds, volume 1, page xxvi (7th Ed.; H. F. & G. Witherby)

(ornithology) Possessing a palatal structure akin to the emu and the other (now extinct) species of the genus Dromaius.


ceratitid

(zoology) Any extinct ammonite of the order Ceratitida.


omomyid

In Europe, beavers, hamsters, hedgehogs and rhinoceroses are migrating in from Asia, wiping out native European groups like omomyids, the nocturnal relatives of tarsiers and monkeys, and several families of hoofed mammal.

2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 64:

(zoology) Any member of the family †Omomyidae, a diverse group of extinct primates.


mormyrid

(ichthyology) Any member of the family Mormyridae of freshwater elephantfish.


isobase

Assuming their zero isobase and assuming also that they have correctly identified the beaches, the Jamieson hypothesis is decidedly not favored by their field observations.

1920, Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, volume 31:

The southern limit of Wright's zero isobase should intersect the north-west coast of England 125 km further north in the vicinity of the southern shore of Morecambe Bay.

1978, Sea-level Changes: North-West England During the Flandrian Stage, M. J. Tooley:

The isobase map shows the marked spatial variability in elevation of archaeological sites from the Groswater Bay west along Lake Melville to the Goose Bay area, as identified by Fitzhugh (1972).

1992, Lucille Lewis Johnson, Melanie Stright, Paleoshorelines and Prehistory: An Investigation of Method:

(archaeology, geology) A line drawn on a map or chart connecting places of equal or constant land upheaval or subsidence.


anting

When we say a bird is anting, we mean that it is on the ground or on a twig with one or both wings half-spread and with its tail drawn under the body. In this unusual attitude it can be seen picking up ants with its bill and rubbing its head among the undersides of the wings and – or – into the base of the tail.

1955, Holger Poulsen, “Experiments on Anting by Birds”, in Adolf Portmann, Ernst Sutter, editors, Acta Congressus internationalis ornithologici [Experientia: Supplementum; 3], Basel: Birkhäuser, →OCLC, page 608:

When anting the Jay does not pick up ants in the bill although it makes the same movements of the head as species which do. The wings are (at high intensity) spread quite widely and thrust forward like a canopy in front of the anting bird. Usually both wings are thrust forward together. I have seen a great number of both wild and captive Jays anting […]

1986, Derek Goodwin, Crows of the World, 2nd edition, London: British Museum (Natural History), →ISBN, page 199:

Blue jays are not just smart, they're also quirky. They are frequently given as exemplars of a bird behavior known as "anting," in which the bird lies down on an anthill with wings and tail spread and entices ants to swarm over it. Anting birds often grasp an ant in their beak, crush it, and wipe it under their wings, and over and through their feathers, and then sometimes eat them. […] The purpose of anting is still debated. It has been hypothesized that the formic acid in ants, when applied to the feathers, helps to control feather lice and other parasites, but the experimental evidence about this is mixed. It has also been suggested that birds are simply wiping the acid off so that the ants will taste better when they subsequently eat them. Others have suggested that anting is pleasurable, like a kind of bird catnip.

2011, Julie Feinstein, Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 199:

Anting. A behavior in which the fluids from ants, notably formic acid, are applied to the plumage and possibly the skin. There are two basic types of the behavior: active anting, in which the bird anoints its plumage with the bill, and passive anting, in which the bird allows ants to invade and anoint the plumage. […] Some individuals of these species, in unnatural situations such as in captivity, perform active anting with burning matches and cigarette smoke, moth balls, hair tonic, mustard, citrus fruits, numerous insects other than ants, and other substitutes. What causes anting and what purpose or purposes it serves, if any, need investigation.

2013, Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr., Ornithology in Laboratory and Field, 4th edition, Orlando, Fla.: Academic Press, →ISBN, page 251:

(ornithology) The practice of some birds of rubbing live ants or occasionally other items into the feathers, possibly as a means of controlling parasites.


Johnston's organ

en-noun

Johnston's organ (plural Johnston's organs)

Named after Christopher Johnston, a physician.

(zoology) A collection of sensory cells found in the pedicel of the antennae in the class Insecta.


pedicle

From Latin pedīculus (“little foot”), diminutive of pēs.

A species of shell-fish, often found sticking by its pedicle to the bottom of ships, doing no other injury than deadening the way a little: "Barnacles, termed soland geese In th' islands of the Orcades."

1867, William Henry Smyth, The Sailor's Word-Book:

(zoology) A fleshy line used to attach and anchor brachiopods and some bivalve molluscs to a substrate.

His long, rakish horns are mounted on a pedicle that extends above his head, thus accentuating the droll length of his features.

(zoology) The attachment point for antlers in cervids.


varanoid

(zoology) Any member of the superfamily Varanoidea of lizards, including the well-known Australian family Varanidae (the goannas).


arboricole

From Latin arbor + colere (“to inhabit”).

arboricole bird

arboricole ant


loricate

(zoology) Of or pertaining to the rotifers with thick, rigid cuticles and a box-like shape.


loricate

(zoology) Any animal covered with bony scales, such as the crocodile or pangolin.


lissotrichous

en-adj

lissotrichous (comparative more lissotrichous, superlative most lissotrichous)

more lissotrichous (comparative)
most lissotrichous (superlative)

From Ancient Greek λισσός (lissós, “smooth”) + θρίξ (thríx) + -ous.

(anthropology, rare) Straight-haired or smooth-haired; belonging to the lissotrichi.


ceratosaur

(zoology) Any of many dinosaurs of the infraorder Ceratosauria.


annule

(zoology) A circular band formed by two transverse grooves in the cuticle of some nematodes with consequent apparent segmentation; annulus.


softshell

(zoology) Having a relatively soft shell.


archaeogeneticist

(archaeology, genetics) A geneticist whose speciality is archaeogenetics

archeogenetikus

a geneticist whose speciality is archaeogenetics


puparium

(entomology) An enclosing case of a pupa that is formed from the exoskeleton of an insect's final stage before pupation.


stomiid

Since stomiids are sensitive to the far-red bioluminescence produced by their suborbital photophores, which other animals in the deep sea cannot see, they have what could be regarded as a private waveband.

2001, Friedrich G. Barth, Ecology of Sensing:

(ichthyology) Any member of the family Stomiidae of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes, stareaters, and loosejaws.


hyporachis

(ornithology) The downy lower barbs of a feather.


contour feather

en-noun

contour feather (plural contour feathers)

(ornithology) Any feather possessing a central shaft (rachis), usually with vanes composed of barbs.


nongregarious

(zoology) Not gregarious; solitary. Compare ungregarious.


tertial

From Latin tertius (“third”); the tertial feathers are the third row of feathers.

He continues — "There was the same rear up, with the head bent down, followed by an upjerk of the hind parts; the long sickle-shaped tertials, so noticeable in this species, seemed little if at all expanded, […]

1923, Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of North American Birds: Wild Fowl, page 76:

(ornithology) Any flight feather attached to the humerus (upper arm) of a bird.


flight feather

(ornithology) Any asymmetrical feather of the wing or tail of a bird.


estrildid

Estrildids and ploceids are clearly different in courtship posture, clutch size, egg coloration, pattern in mouth of the young, and mode of begging of the young.

1968, Breviora, numbers 280-309, page 50:

Marschall and Prinzinger (1991) subjected five species of estrildids to the following calculation from laboratory measurements under different T_A: O₂ consumption, CO₂ production, RMR, TNZ, conductance and T_B.

1996, Gordon L. Maclean, Ecophysiology of Desert Birds, page 100:

The estrildids are all monogamous (forming long-term or life-long pair bonds) and exhibit biparental care.

2008, James L. Goodson, Chapter 1: Nonapeptides and the evolutionary patterning of sociality, page 8:

(zoology) Any weaverbird of the family Estrildidae.


excavation unit

excavation unit (plural excavation units)

An excavation unit need not be rectangular, if precise measurements are made to assure good provenience.

(archaeology) A pit, trench, shovel test hole, (etc.) or other result of scientific excavation.


shastasaurid

(zoology) Any extinct ichthyosaur in the family Shastasauridae.


Neanderthal

→ Spanish: neandertal

Joachim Neander
Kalmbach Media
Neanderthal 1

From obsolete German Neanderthal, now spelled Neandertal, the name of a valley (German Tal, older also spelled Thal) near Düsseldorf where the first Neanderthal was discovered in 1856. A hollow near the valley was known as Neanderhöhle (“Neander Hollow”) and Neandershöhle (“Neander’s Hollow”) in the early 19th century, and the valley had been renamed to Neanderthal in 1850, in honour of the German Calvinist theologian and hymn writer Joachim Neander (1650–1680). Before, the valley was known as das Gesteins (literally “The Rocks [sg.]”) and Hundsklipp (literally “Dog Cliff”).
The name of Joachim Neander is based on the Ancient Greek translation (νέος (néos) + ᾰ̓νήρ (anḗr)) of his original surname Neumann (“Newman”).
The pronunciation with the "th" sound (/θ/) is a spelling pronunciation; the original German word is pronounced with a "t" sound (/t/).

These injuries may reflect the rigors of hunting with the Neanderthals' limited repertoire of weapons; the Neanderthals never seem to have developed projectiles, so they would have to have gotten more or less on top of their prey in order to kill them.

2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Picador, →ISBN, pages 250–251:

Homo neanderthalensis
Homo neanderthalensis#Translingual

A specimen of the now extinct species Homo neanderthalensis.


anthro

anthro (countable and uncountable, plural anthros)

I gather the phrase is used in lieu of some more practical benefit, e.g., a "job," which, as holders of English lit and anthro degrees can tell you, isn't necessarily part of the program.

1988 September 9, Cecil Adams, “The Straight Dope”, in Chicago Reader:

Unlikely as it seemed, he might somehow return to the Empire, and if that happened, any information he could bring back would be valuable to the socio and anthro specialists.


eruca

Borrowed from Latin eruca, in its senses of "caterpillar" and "colewort" respectively. Cognate with arugula, rucola, rocket, roquette.


echino-

From combining form of Ancient Greek ἐχῖνος (ekhînos, “hedgehog”).

der

(chiefly zoology) Forming compound terms denoting something prickly or, specifically, indicating the sea urchin.


procyonid

(zoology) Any member of the family Procyonidae, a New World family of the order Carnivora, including the raccoons, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, ringtails and cacomistles.


acrophone

There were three classes of predicted knowledge sources: (a) induced sublexical relations (i.e., induction of orthographic–phonological relations from the experience of print words), (b) acrophones from letter names, and (c) transfer from spelling experience.

1999, G. Brian Thompson et al., “Learning correspondences between letters and phonemes without explicit instruction”, in Applied Psycholinguistics, →DOI:

Where there are no certain cognates to an acrophone, but the identity of its letter is secure, I shall reconstruct the translation in square brackets.

2006, Gordon James Hamilton, The origins of the West Semitic alphabet in Egyptian scripts, page 26:

(linguistics, archaeology) The first sound of a word, or a glyph used to represent the first sound of the word it represents


lapillus

(zoology) One of the otoliths in finfish.


foundress

From Middle English founderess, founderesse, foundress (“female founder or builder of a city; female founder or benefactor of a religious house; (figuratively) female inventor or originator; (figuratively) a source”) [and other forms]; from founder, foundere, foundour (“founder or builder of a building, city, country, etc.; builder or endower of a church, college, monastery, etc.; benefactor or patron of such an institution; charter member of a guild; first head of a religious organization; inventor, originator; (figuratively) earliest of a class of people; (figuratively) a source”) + -esse (“suffix forming female forms of words”). Foundour is derived from Anglo-Norman fundur, Old French fondeor, fondeur (“creator, instigator, founder”) (modern French fondeur), from Latin fundātor (“founder”) (rare), from fundō (“to make by smelting, found”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”)) + -tor (suffix forming masculine agent nouns). The English word is analysable as founder + -ess (suffix forming female forms of words).

suffix

[T]he comparison of multiple inseminations and multiple foundress associations showed that the number of foundresses, a component of migration structure, affects the potential for social evolution more strongly than the number of inseminations per foundress, a component of the mating structure.

1987, Michael J. Wade, Felix J. Breden, “Kin Selection in Complex Groups: Mating Structure, Migration Structure, and the Evolution of Social Behaviors”, in B. Diane Chepko-Sade, Zuleyma Tang Halpin, editors, Mammalian Dispersal Patterns: The Effect of Social Structure on Population Genetics, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, part V (Mathematical Models of Population Structure), page 281:

When two [European paper wasp] foundresses meet at the nest site after hibernation, the foundress with the higher corpus allatum activity usually becomes dominant.

1991, Peter-Frank Röseler, “Reproductive Competition during Colony Establishment”, in Kenneth G. Ross, Robert W. Matthews, editors, The Social Biology of Wasps, Ithaca, N.Y., London: Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, figure 9.4 caption, page 329:

Like many vertebrate cooperative breeders, foundress associations of paper wasps are composed of individuals of varying relatedness (typically full sisters, cousins, and unrelated individuals;[…]), […] However there is also very clear helping behaviour: subordinate foundresses hunt for caterpillars and other insect food to provision the offspring of the dominant female.

2021, Michael Taborsky, Michael A. Cant, Jan Komdeur, “Conflict”, in The Evolution of Social Behaviour, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 131, column 1:

(zoology, specifically) A female animal which establishes a colony.


viperid

Originally only capitalized, from New Latin Viperidae (“taxonomic family”), as Vipera + -id.

der

(zoology) Any member of the family Viperidae; a viper.


hemipter

(zoology) Any organism of the order Hemiptera, including cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, and shield bugs.


shovel test

A single shovel test was all we needed to show the site's importance.

(archaeology) An excavation unit of small extent and shallow depth, made quickly with a shovel or trowel to determine whether archeologically significant material is present below the ground surface.


shovel test

en-verb

shovel test (third-person singular simple present shovel tests, present participle shovel testing, simple past and past participle shovel tested)

shovel tests (present singular third-person)
shovel testing (participle present)
shovel tested (participle past)
shovel tested (past)

They were contracted to shovel test only within the proposed pipeline's right of way.

(archaeology) To examine a site or area using one or more small excavation units.


dolium

(history, archaeology) A large earthenware vessel used for the storage and transportation of goods in the ancient Western Mediterranean.


trophobiosis

en-noun

trophobiosis (usually uncountable, plural trophobioses)

(zoology) A symbiotic association in which one organism obtains or provides food for another.


whiffle

en-verb

whiffle (third-person singular simple present whiffles, present participle whiffling, simple past and past participle whiffled)

whiffles (present singular third-person)
whiffling (participle present)
whiffled (participle past)
whiffled (past)

1662, in sense “flutter as blown by wind”, as whiff + -le (“(frequentative)”) and (onomatopoeia) sound of wind, particularly a leaf fluttering in unsteady wind; compare whiff. Sense “something small or insignificant” is from 1680.

(ornithology, of a bird) To descend rapidly from a height once the decision to land has been made, involving fast side-slipping first one way and then the other.


matrifocality

(anthropology) The state or condition of being matrifocal.

matrifocalidad

the state or condition of being matrifocal


dorid

(zoology) Any member of the taxonomic superfamily Doridoidea of nudibranchs.


opisthobranch

/ɵˈpɪsθəbɹæŋk/

(zoology) A gastropod with gills behind the heart, formerly thought to belong to a single group.


merlucciid

(zoology) Any member of the family Merlucciidae of codlike fishes, including most hakes.


zoophilic

en-adj

zoophilic (comparative more zoophilic, superlative most zoophilic)

more zoophilic (comparative)
most zoophilic (superlative)

/ˌzəʊ.əˈfɪlɪk/

Relating to or exhibiting zoophilia; paraphilic to animals.


nonagrian

(zoology) Any one of the moths of the genus Nonagria.


chaetotaxy

en-noun

chaetotaxy (countable and uncountable, plural chaetotaxies)

By analogy to phyllotaxy, substituting the prefix chaeto- from Greek χαίτη (khaítē). By surface analysis, chaeto- -taxy (compare taxis).

I propose the term Chætotaxy for the arrangement of bristles on the different parts of the body of the Diptera, the composition of this term being analagous to phyllotaxy, the order or arrangement of leaves of plants.

1884 November 5, C. R. Osten-Sacken, “An Essay of Comparative Chætotaxy, or the arrangement of characteristic bristles of Diptera”, in Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, London, page 497:

(zoology) The arrangement of, and study of arrangement of, chaetae (chitinous bristles) on a species or subspecies of animal, usually and especially an arthropod or annelid.


anodon

(zoology) Any of the genus Anodon, now Anodonta, of freshwater bivalves.

anodonte

any of the genus Anodonta of freshwater bivalves


IEA

w:Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography

(ethnography, anthropology) Initialism of Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography: a Russian institute of research, specializing in ethnographic studies of cultural and physical anthropology.


inia

(zoology) Any South American freshwater dolphin of genus (Inia), with a hairy snout.


ursid

(zoology) Any species of the family Ursidae; a bear, a giant panda, or any of certain extinct relatives.

ursidé

any member of the family Ursidae, the bears


phratry

PIE word
 *bʰréh₂tēr
From Latin phrātria, from Ancient Greek φρατρία (phratría, “tribe, clan”), from φράτηρ (phrátēr) + -ία (-ía).

uder

The moieties are linked to or bear the names of beings or forces expressing the cosmic dichotomy. Most common are heaven and earth moieties, "above" and "below," or moieties named after birds and land animals (or aquatic animals), as is the case among the Winnebago and in the phratry system of the Northwest Coast Indians.

1979, Åke Hultkrantz, “The Great Tribal Ceremonies”, in Monica Setterwall, transl., The Religions of the American Indians, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif., London: University of California Press, published 1980, →ISBN, part I (Tribal Religions), page 112:

(anthropology, dated) A former kinship division consisting of two or more distinct clans with separate identities but considered to be a single unit.


australopith

/ˈɒstɹələˌpɪθ/

The incisors are more similar in size to the molars compared to earlier australopiths—a condition which is also more humanlike.
The limb bones indicate A. garhi had small stature like earlier australopiths.

2007, Holly M. Dunsworth, Human Origins 101, page 78:

Most authorities would nowadays concur that the australopiths were generally committed to habitats with at least some trees, to which they were more or less tied for sleeping and for shelter from predators during the day, as well as for a large part of their sustenance.

2008, Rob DeSalle, Ian Tattersall, Human Origins: What Bones And Genomes Tell Us About Ourselves, page 118:

Later we'll consider how these principles apply to australopith craniofacial function, but first let's review briefly how different australopiths accommodated large teeth and big masticatory muscles, and how they grew large, buttressed faces.

2011, Daniel E. Lieberman, The Evolution of the Human Head, page 451:

(anthropology, paleontology) Any of the hominids of the extinct genus Australopithecus.

australopithecine

depending on the classification scheme used


australopith

en-adj

australopith (comparative more australopith, superlative most australopith)

more australopith (comparative)
most australopith (superlative)

/ˈɒstɹələˌpɪθ/

(anthropology, paleontology) Of or pertaining to the hominids of the extinct genus Australopithecus.


Japanese spitz

en-noun

Japanese spitz (plural Japanese spitzes)

(zoology) A small breed of dog from Japan, having a somewhat square body, deep chest, and very thick, pure white double coat.


proboscidate

en-adj

proboscidate (comparative more proboscidate, superlative most proboscidate)

more proboscidate (comparative)
most proboscidate (superlative)

From the stem of Latin proboscis + -ate.

The visitor [...] returned several times to the pictures of little Armande in her bath, pressing a proboscidate rubber toy to her shiny stomach or standing up, dimple-bottomed, to be lathered.

1972, Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things, McGraw-Hill, published 1972, pages 40–1:

(chiefly zoology) Having, or shaped like, a proboscis.


dogman

From dog (“the domesticated mammal Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris”) + -man (suffix denoting someone (possibly implied male) who is an expert in an area, who is employed or holds a position in an area, or who takes part in an activity) or man (senses 2 and 3).

suffix

[T]his tradition certainly influenced that of Dog-Men (cynanthropy) and of dog-headed men (cynocephaly), […] Dog-Men, however, have historically enjoyed a much richer and more varied mythology than their lycanthropic cousins, no doubt as a result of the ambiguity of the dog itself as much as of cultural or historical trends.

1991, David Gordon White, “Hell is Other People”, in Myths of the Dog-man, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 15:

A dogman’s legs are back bent, crooked as a dog’s. Its body is covered in fine fur, and its face has a dog-like snout and ear. A dogman’s arms and torso are completely humanoid, save for the its strange paws, that are vaguely human-like, but with thick dark claws.

2002, Sovereign Stone: Bestiary of Loerem, Lake Geneva, Wis.: Sovereign Press, →ISBN, page 56, column 1:

I was interested in the Wisconsin dogman sightings, which were kind of scary, but when you started talking about the ones showing up in bedrooms I must have been agape and my hair [standing] on end.

2016, Linda S. Godfrey, quoting Matt Ballotti, “Shadow Wolves”, in Monsters among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots, Wolfmen, Portals, Phantoms, and Odd Phenomena, New York, N.Y.: TarcherPerigee, →ISBN, pages 95–96:

Sightings of mysterious creatures that appear to be part human and part wolf are reported in modern times all over the world. […] Their apparent hybrid nature makes them “dogmen” or “man-wolves.” […] Reports of dogmen date to ancient times. In some cases, they were thought to be a type of debased human.

2018, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, “Introduction: An Overview of Werewolves and Their Kin”, in Rosemary Ellen Guiley, editor, Fate Presents Werewolves and Dogmen, New Milford, Conn.: Visionary Living, →ISBN:

(cryptozoology, mythology) An alleged cryptid or mythological creature that is part dog and part man; also (religion) a deity who is part dog and part man.


palpator

(zoology, dated) One of a family of clavicorn beetles, including those which have very long maxillary palpi.


quadrumane

From French quadrumane, from Late Latin quadrumanus.

(zoology, now rare) An animal having four hands and feet with opposable digits, specifically a member of the now obsolete order of mammals Quadrumana, comprising all non-human primates; a primate.


quadrumane

en-adj

quadrumane (comparative more quadrumane, superlative most quadrumane)

more quadrumane (comparative)
most quadrumane (superlative)

(zoology, now rare) Pertaining to such an animal; quadrumanous; loosely, "ape-like".


battleship-shaped curve

en-noun

battleship-shaped curve (plural battleship-shaped curves)

From the resemblance to the outline of a battleship, as seen from above.

(archaeology) A two-dimensional region with parallel sides and pointed ends, usually representing the emergence and later disappearance of an entity in a graph over time.


zoodendrium

(zoology) The branched, and often treelike, support of the colonies of certain Infusoria.


zoochemical

Any chemical substance characteristic of, or derived from, animals.


afrothere

From Afrotheria, from Afro- + Ancient Greek θηρίον (thēríon, “beast”).

Golden moles and tenrecs seem to be related to each other, and most modern authorities place them within the afrotheres.

2004, Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor's Tale, Mariner Books, page 222:

In the absence of a comprehensive fossil record for stem members of crown Afrotheria, most high-level phylogenetic analyses have been based primarily on the morphology of extant afrotheres[…].

2007, Rodolphe Tabuce et al., “Early Tertiary Mammals from North Africa Reinforce the Molecular Afrotheria Clade”, in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, volume 274, page 1159:


afrotherian

en-adj

afrotherian (comparative more afrotherian, superlative most afrotherian)

more afrotherian (comparative)
most afrotherian (superlative)

From Afrotheria, from Afro- + Ancient Greek θηρίον (thēríon, “beast”), + -n.

Although the monophyly of Afrotheria is well supported by recent molecular studies, the interrelationships within afrotherian mammals remain unclarified.

2003, Yumie Murata et al., “Afrotherian Phylogeny as Inferred from Complete Mitochondrial Genomes”, in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, volume 28, page 253:

Just as molecular evidence from living mammals would predict, the African fossil record documents the presence of several afrotherian groups by early or middle Eocene time.

2006, Chris Beard, The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey, University of California Press, page 251:

(zoology) Belonging or pertaining to the superorder Afrotheria, which includes the elephants, aardvarks, golden moles, tenrecs, etc.


afrotherian

As their name implies, afrotherians putatively represent a radiation of placentals rooted in the African continent and nearby island of Madagascar.

2001, Michael J. Novacek, “Mammalian Phylogeny: Genes and Supertrees”, in Current Biology, volume 11, page R573:

Alternatively, the afrotherians may have originated in Europe, and an elephant-shrew like creature crossed into Africa and gave rise to the great diversity of afrotherians—from elephants to golden moles—that inhabit the continent today.

2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: The First 100 Million Years, Penguin, published 2019, page 59:

(zoology) A placental that belongs to the superorder Afrotheria, such as an elephant, aardvark, golden mole, tenrec, etc.


armilla

Borrowed from Latin armilla. Doublet of armill.

(zoology) A ring of hair or feathers on the legs.


agnathan

/ˈæɡ.nə.θən/

From Agnatha, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “without”) + γνάθος (gnáthos, “jaw”).

Haikouichthys is one of three species of jawless (or agnathan) fish to be found in the Early Cambrian period.

2005, Tim Haines, Paul Chambers, The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life, BBC Books, page 20:

(zoology) Belonging or pertaining to the superclass Agnatha, the jawless vertebrates.


agnathan

/ˈæɡ.nə.θən/

Thus should the cranial neural crest in cyclostomes prove to be non-skeletogenous this might be a reflection either of its own primitiveness or of the different evolutionary origins and morphological status of the visceral skeleton in agnathans and gnathostomes.

1956, D. R. Newth, “On the Neural Crest of the Lamprey Embryo”, in Journal of Embryology and Experimental Morphology, volume 4, page 358:

The hagfish is an agnathan, a modern representative of the earliest evolved group of vertebrates, the ostracoderms or jawless fishes, which arose prior to the ancient placoderms (3).

1992, Peter J. Hanley et al., “Hagfish Humoral Defense Protein Exhibits Structural and Functional Homology with Mammalian Complement Components”, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, volume 89, page 7910:

(zoology) A member of the superclass Agnatha of jawless vertebrates.


crabronid

(zoology) Any member of the Crabronidae, a large family of wasps.


agnath

Evolution of vertebrates was accompanied by a gradual increase in oxygen availability, from the irrespirable atmosphere of the Precambrian to a PO₂ at 7 mmHg with the first vertebrates (agnaths), to the present sea level PO₂ value of 160 mmHg with the first reptiles.

1979, Stephen C. Wood, Evolution of Respiratory Processes, Marcel Dekker,, →ISBN, page 218:

The gnathostomes almost entirely replaced the agnaths, presumably because they were more effective fishes.

1996, George Christopher Williams, Adaptation and Natural Selection, Princeton University Press,, →ISBN, page 51:

Thus, although tunicates are presumably intermediate between flatworms and agnaths, the larval tunicate more closely resembles the flatworm and adult agnath.

2002, Harold J. Morowitz, The Emergence of Everything, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 113:


duetter

(zoology) A creature that duets (communicates between the sexes using song).


culmen

Borrowed from Latin culmen (“apex, acme”).

bor+

The measurements were taken as follows: wing length, from the carpal joint to the tip of the longest primary; tarsus length, from the tibiotarsal joint to the distal undivided scute; upper mandible length, the chord length from the point where the culmen enters the feathers of the head to the tip; bill depth, in the vertical plane level at the anterior edge of the nares.

1997 June 20, “A Role for Ecotones in Generating Rainforest Biodiversity”, in Science, volume 276, number 5320, →DOI, pages 1855–1857:

A very simple form was found in the carving shown in Pl. 17, fig. 13, where a long projecting knob is seen at the base of the culmen.

1910, Alfred M. Tozzer, Glover M. Allen, Animal Figures in the Maya Codices:

(zoology) The dorsal ridge of a bird's bill.


egg tooth

(zoology) A small, sharp, cranial protuberance used by offspring to break or tear through the egg's surface during hatching.


euphausiid

(zoology) Any member of the taxonomic order Euphausiacea of krill.


ambitus

From Latin ambitus (“circuit, ostentation”). Doublet of ambit.

(botany, zoology) The exterior edge or border of a thing, such as a leaf or shell.


antennular

(zoology) of or relating to antennules or an antennule


sheepcote

If thou wilt come and dwell with me at home, My sheepcote shall be strowed with new greene rushes: Weele haunt the trembling prickets as they rome About the fields, along the hauthorne bushes; I have a pie-bald curre to hunt the hare, So we will live with daintie forrest fare.

1594, Richard Barnfield, The Affectionate Shepherd:

Each officer was at his post, nor could they much complain whilst their General sat on straw, in a sheepcote, at the foot of the hill, called Sherriff Muir, which overlooks Dumblane, on the right of his army.

1845, Mrs. Thomson, Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745.:

Besides this, he acquired in the sheepcote lessons which he practised on the throne, that rule means service, and that the shepherd of men holds his office in order that he may protect and guide.

1903, Alexander Maclaren, The Life of David:

(archaic) A small building for sheltering sheep.


claviger

From Latin claviger, from clava (“club”) + gerere (“to carry”).

Standing body hairs are relatively less numerous and longer in claviger.

1968, Merle Wesley Wing, Taxonomic Revision of the Nearctic Genus Acanthomyops, page 81:

The workers of flavus group species are sometimes confused with claviger group workers, but can be distinguished by relatively dense pubescence all over the body, which creates a dull overall appearances.

2007, Brian L. Fisher, Stefan P. Cover, Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera, page 104:

All of the species of the claviger group are believed to be temporary social parasits of other Lasius species, but the actual hosts are not all known.

2012, Aaron M. Ellison, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Elizabeth J. Farnsworth, A Field Guide to the Ants of New England, page 179:

(entomology) A group within genus Lasius (formerly considered a subgenera Acanthomyops) of bright yellow to orange species of ant that have 3 maxillary palps and give off a distinctive citronella odor when disturbed. The group name comes from their club-shaped palps.

Over much of its range claviger lays eggs without a blood meal, whereas forms requiring blood for egg laying have been observed on the Black Sea coast.

1949, Agriculture Handbook - Issue 152, page 117:

Claviger is Palearctic in distribution, extending from the British Isles to the Pamir Mountains of Turkestan and the Ob River of western Siberia.

1957, Mosquito Reprints: Matheson Collection - Volume 1, page 335:

The usual breeding places of claviger are springs and wells.

1984, A. R. Zahar, Vector Bionomics in the Epidemiology and Control of Malaria, page 98:

(entomology) A species of mosquito, Anopheles claviger.


diacranterian

en-adj

diacranterian (comparative more diacranterian, superlative most diacranterian)

more diacranterian (comparative)
most diacranterian (superlative)

From dia- + Ancient Greek κραντήρες (krantḗres, “wisdom teeth”) + -ian.

uder

(herpetology) Having the back teeth separated from the front teeth.


galaxiid

(zoology) Any member of the family Galaxiidae of mostly small freshwater fish of the Southern Hemisphere.


syncranterian

en-adj

syncranterian (comparative more syncranterian, superlative most syncranterian)

more syncranterian (comparative)
most syncranterian (superlative)

From syn- + Ancient Greek κραντήρες (krantḗres, “wisdom teeth”) + -ian.

The three Tropidonotes here described possess the true syncranterian type of dentition.

1860, Edward Drinker Cope, “Notes and descriptions of new and little known species of American Reptiles”, in Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, volume 12, page 342:

The type species, C. constrictor, definitely has syncranterian dentition.

1987, Beat Schätti, “The Phylogenetic Significance of Morphological Characters in the Holarctic Racers of the Genus Coluber”, in Amphibia-Reptilia, volume 8, number 4:

(herpetology) Having teeth in one continuous row.


cave painting

en-noun

cave painting (countable and uncountable, plural cave paintings)

I understand from Paṇḍita Baghavánlál, who lately visited the caves, that the painting and writings in these caves are fast going to decay. Those at Ajaṇṭhá are more durable, whereas the Bagh cave paintings will, it is feared, be entirely obliterated after some years.

1818 July 28, F. Dangerfield, “IX. Some Account of the Caves near Baug, Called the Panch Pandoo”, in Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, volume II, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and John Murray, […], published 1876, →OCLC, editorial note, page 216:

No natives of this country could, I think, have drawn the cave-paintings [in Buddhist caves found in Khandesh].

1851 January, J. Rose, “Art. VIII.—Extracts from the Proceedings of the Society for the Year 1849–50.”, in The Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, volume IV, Bombay, Maharashtra: American Mission Press; T. Graham, […], →OCLC, page 351:

Mr. George W. Stow, of Queenstown, South Africa, refers in a letter to the interesting subject of the old cave-paintings by the Bushmen, [...]

1871 February 4, “Scientific Notes. Cave-paintings by Bushmen.”, in Appletons’ Journal of Literature, Science, and Art, volume V, number 97, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, […], →OCLC, page 143, column 2:

Prehistoric pottery, art, cave painting, engraving can be incorporated into the exhibition as an added colourful attraction.

1972 January–March, Dilip Kumar Ray, “Some Thoughts on the Problems of Arrangement of Anthropological Specimen in Museums”, in Amalendu Bose, editor, The Calcutta Review, volume III, number 3 (New Series), Calcutta, West Bengal: University of Calcutta, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 232:

Although somewhat difficult to date, the earliest direct evidence of human interest in honey occurs in the famous stone-age cave painting from southern Spain, of a man robbing a wild bees' nest.

1998, Don Brothwell, Patricia Brothwell, “Sugars”, in Food in Antiquity: A Survey of the Diet of Ancient Peoples, expanded edition, Baltimore, Md., London: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 72:

Rooted in precinematic cultural activities such as walking and traveling, on the one hand, and in all forms of visual representation – including cave painting – on the other, the compound term ["mobilized virtual gaze"] is meant to describe forms of scopic pleasure that travel "in an imaginary flânerie through an imaginary elsewhere and an imaginary 'elsewhen'.'"

1999, Lutz Koepnick, “Benjamin’s Actuality”, in Walter Benjamin and the Aesthetics of Power (Modern German Culture and Literature), Lincoln, Neb., London: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, part 2 (Rethinking the Spectacle), page 213:

The well-known Neolithic cave painting from Morella la Villa in Spain unmistakably shows a battle between two small groups of archers.

2002, Christon I. Archer, John R. Ferris, Holger H. Herwig, Timothy H. E. Travers, “Introduction: The Origins of Warfare”, in World History of Warfare, Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 1:

By 30,000 years ago, modern humans in Europe were producing stunning cave paintings of ice age animals, and carved human figurines.

2009, Jonathan Adams, “The March of Cain: Humans as a Destroyer of Species”, in John Mason, editor, Species Richness: Patterns in the Diversity of Life (Springer–Praxis Books in Environmental Sciences), Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; Chichester, West Sussex: Praxis Publishing, →ISBN, section 5.3 (The Secrets of Our Success over Other Human Species), page 211:

Human beings have been students of animal behavior from their earliest days. [...] Further evidence for this appreciation of animal behavior can be seen in the many cave paintings depicting animals, while not depicting any of the other facets of the painters' lives.

2011, “Introduction”, in Victor S. Lamoureux, editor, Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press; Oakville, Ont.: Apple Academic Press, →ISBN, page 7:

(uncountable) The paintings resulting from this activity regarded collectively, especially if prehistoric; cave art; (countable) an individual painting of this type.

grotkuns

paintings resulting from this activity regarded collectively, especially if prehistoric; an individual painting of this type


serrasalmine

(zoology) Of or pertaining to the Serrasalminae.


ephyra

(zoology) An immature medusoid stage of a scyphozoan jellyfish once it breaks off from its segmenting polyp.


eumenid

(zoology) Any member of the vespid subfamily Eumeninae, the potter wasps.


alexithymic

en-adj

alexithymic (comparative more alexithymic, superlative most alexithymic)

more alexithymic (comparative)
most alexithymic (superlative)

/əˌlɛksɪˈθaɪmɪk/

From a- + Ancient Greek λέξις (léxis, “speech”) + θυμός (thumós, “soul”) + -ic.

(anthropology) Lacking in emotion or emotional expression.


gubernaculum

From Latin gubernāculum (“a helm, rudder”).

A part or structure that serves as a guide:

(zoology) The reproductive tract of an invertebrate, or part of it; especially the section containing the gonophores (in a hydrozoan); a sclerotized structure in the cloaca (in a nematode).


banjo enclosure

en-noun

banjo enclosure (plural banjo enclosures)

(archaeology) A feature found on mid-Iron Age sites in Great Britain that resembles a banjo in plan.


protiston

(zoology, archaic) A protist (member of the former taxonomic kingdom Protista).


sedentarise

en-verb

sedentarise (third-person singular simple present sedentarises, present participle sedentarising, simple past and past participle sedentarised)

sedentarises (present singular third-person)
sedentarising (participle present)
sedentarised (participle past)
sedentarised (past)

(British, anthropology) Alternative spelling of sedentarize


sedentarization

(anthropology) The settling of a nomadic population; sedentism.


sedentarize

sedentarize (third-person singular simple present sedentarizes, present participle sedentarizing, simple past and past participle sedentarized)

sedentarizes (present singular third-person)
sedentarizing (participle present)
sedentarized (participle past)
sedentarized (past)

(US, anthropology) to settle a nomadic population through sedentism


sedentism

(anthropology) a transitioning process that sees a nomadic population being placed into more permanent registrable settlements.


nematogenic

In zoology, formed as nematogen + -ic; in physical chemistry, formed as nemato- + -genic. Compare nematogenous.


nidify

nidify (third-person singular simple present nidifies, present participle nidifying, simple past and past participle nidified)

nidifies (present singular third-person)
nidifying (participle present)
nidified (participle past)
nidified (past)

From Latin nīdificō (“build a nest”), from nīdus (“nest”) + faciō (“make, do”).

It is only within the last few years that naturalists have clearly determined that some species of fish make nests for the reception of their spawn […] Five or six kinds are now ascertained to nidify; and of these, two belong to the genus Gasterosteus […]

1854, Albany Hancock, “Observations on the Nidification of Gasterosteus aculeatus and Gasterosteus spinachia”, in The Zoologist, 12: 4409:

[…] it may originally have explained why dung beetles do not appear when eagles nidify; […]

1997, Gert-Jan van Dijk, Ainoi, Logoi, Mythoi: Fables in Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Greek Culture, page 206:

Among the birds that nidify there and live throughout the year [...] the sultan bird detaches[.]

2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 123:


multiserial

(zoology, botany) Arranged in multiple rows


pauciserial

(zoology, of tooth enamel) Having few layers.


uniserial

(zoology, botany) Having a single row or series; unbranched; uniseriate.


gonopod

(zoology) A pleopod that is specialized for fertilisation in the males of some decapods.

...a pair of primitively two-segmented arms, the gonopods (claspers, forcipate claspers, anterior gonapophyses, pregonites, harpagones, parameres) arising posterolaterally on sternite 9...

1981, Manual of Nearctic Diptera, volume 1, →ISBN, page 45:

(entomology) A clasping structure, possibly also evolved from legs, at the tip of the abdomen of some male insects.


deflex

deflex (third-person singular simple present deflexes, present participle deflexing, simple past and past participle deflexed)

deflexes (present singular third-person)
deflexing (participle present)
deflexed (participle past)
deflexed (past)


dentex

(zoology) Any member of the genus Dentex of perciform fish.


preceramic

(archaeology) Describing a society that did not use pottery.


hystricognath

The New World hystricognath rodents (= caviomorphs) today represent one of the most diverse and widespread suborders among the over 800 mammal species of South America (Woods, 1982).

1996, José Roberto Moreira, David W. Macdonald, “7: Capybara use and conservation in South America”, in V.J. Taylor, N. Dunstone, editors, Exploitation of Mammal Populations, page 89:

The situation is similar with respect to rodents, given that the earliest undisputed hystricognaths are from the Oligocene of Pakistan and Egypt (ca. 35Ma), with the possibility of a Middle Eocene origin for the group (Bryant and McKenna 1995; Marivaux et al. 2002).

2008, Felipe Bandoni de Oliveira, Eder Cassola Molina, Paul A. Garber, Gabriel Marroig, “Chapter 3: Paleogeography of the South Atlantic: a Route for Primates and Rodents into the New World?”, in Alejandro Estrada, Julio Cesar Bicca-Marques, Eckhard W. Heymann, Karen B. Strier, editors, South American Primates, page 63:

The hystricognaths include several lines that radiated in Africa and South America in the Oligocene and Miocene.[…]The largest hystricognath group is the Caviomorpha, the South American guinea pigs, capybaras, chinchillas and New World porcupines.

2009, Michael J. Benton, Vertebrate Palaeontology, page 359:

(zoology) Any member of the infraorder Hystricognathi of rodents, distinguished from other rodents by the bone structure of their skulls.


ANT

en-noun

ANT (countable and uncountable, plural ANTs)

actor–network theory
w:actor–network theory

(anthropology, semiotics) Abbreviation of actor–network theory.


penniform

Even in the palaeolithic periods symbols abound such as cup markings, tectiforms, penniforms, groups of dots, rectangles, lattice designs, symbolic vulvas, and so on.

1970, Stuart Macdonald, The History and Philosophy of Art Education, Lutterworth Press, published 2004, page 335:

Startlingly, the much earlier Blombos cave engravings clearly fit neatly into several of Von Petzinger's categories: lines, crosshatching, cruciforms, penniforms, and perhaps others.

2011, Pat Shipman, The Animal Connection: A New Perspective on What Makes Us Human, page 145:

The symbols she found ranged from dots, lines, triangles, squares and zigzags to more complex forms like ladder shapes, hand stencils, something called a tectiform that looks a bit like a post with a roof, and feather shapes called penniforms. In some places, the signs were part of bigger paintings. Elsewhere, they were on their own, like the row of bell shapes found in El Castillo in northern Spain (see picture below), or the panel of 15 penniforms in Santian, also in Spain.[…]The earliest known penniform is from about 28,000 years ago in the Grande Grotte d’Arcy-sur-Cure in northern France, and later appears a little to the west of there before spreading south. Eventually, it reaches northern Spain and even Portugal.

2016 November 12, “Hidden Symbols”, in New Scientist, number 3099, page 36:

(archaeology) A symbol that is shaped like a feather.


pictura

Learned borrowing from Latin pictūra (“a painting”). Doublet of picture.


Chalcolithic

The transitional period of raiding and warfare, which seems to have disrupted the life of villages in the Chalcolithic period, stimulated the growth of larger and larger defensive settlements.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 161:


araneid

From the genus name translingual Araneus + -id.

(zoology) A spider; now specifically a member of the family Araneidae; an orb weaver.


araneology

From French aranéologie, from Latin arānea + French -o- + -logie.

(zoology) The study of the spider, a branch of arachnology.


bicolligate

(ornithology) Having the anterior toes united by a basal web


breviped

en-adj

breviped (comparative more breviped, superlative most breviped)

more breviped (comparative)
most breviped (superlative)


brevirostral

brevirostral (comparative more brevirostral, superlative most brevirostral)

more brevirostral (comparative)
most brevirostral (superlative)

Latin brevis (“short”) + English rostral.


caducicorn

caducicorn (comparative more caducicorn, superlative most caducicorn)

more caducicorn (comparative)
most caducicorn (superlative)

(zoology) Having deciduous horns or antlers.


digastric

Borrowing from New Latin digastricus, from di- (“twice, doubly”) + gastricus (“gastric”); equivalent to di- + gastric. Doublet of digastricus.


canaliferous

(zoology, of the shell of a mollusc) Having a canal.


campodeiform

en-adj

campodeiform (comparative more campodeiform, superlative most campodeiform)

more campodeiform (comparative)
most campodeiform (superlative)

(zoology) Of, pertaining to, or resembling a member of the genus Campodea of arthropods.


cancroid

cancroid (comparative more cancroid, superlative most cancroid)

more cancroid (comparative)
most cancroid (superlative)

(evolutionary theory, zoology) Resembling a crab


caudiform

caudiform (comparative more caudiform, superlative most caudiform)

more caudiform (comparative)
most caudiform (superlative)


catenulate

(botany, zoology) In the form of a chain of linked parts


cavicorn

cavicorn (comparative more cavicorn, superlative most cavicorn)

more cavicorn (comparative)
most cavicorn (superlative)


cavicorn

(zoology) Any animal having hollow horns


cirrigrade

/ˈsɪɹɪɡɹeɪd/

From cirri- + -grade (“means of walking”).

(zoology) moved or moving by means of cirri


coleopterology

suffix

translingual <i class="Latn mention" lang="mul">Coleoptera</i>

(entomology) The scientific study of beetles.


dovehouse

From Middle English dovehouse, dove-hows, dufhous, equivalent to dove + house.


nauplius

]
Borrowed from New Latin Nauplius (former genus name) (coined by Danish naturalist Otto Friedrich Müller (1730–1784) who mistakenly thought the larvae were a separate genus of animal), from Latin nauplius (“argonaut, paper nautilus (genus Argonauta)”), from Ancient Greek ναύπλιος (naúplios, “type of shellfish”), from ναῦς (naûs, “ship”) + πλέω (pléō, “to sail”); compare Latin Nauplius (“mythological king of Euboea”), from Ancient Greek Ναύπλιος (Naúplios, “mythological founder of the city of Nauplia (Nafplio), a son of Poseidon and Amymone”).
The plural nauplii is from Latin nauplius + -iī (plural of -ius).

cog

The oval body, with the abdomen not yet differentiated, and bearing no limbs; the (usually) three pairs of limbs, representing the first and second antennæ and mandibles of the adult, together with the single eye, are the distinguishing characteristics of the nauplius stage.

1870 November 16, A[lpheus] S[pring] Packard, “The Development of Limulus Polyphemus”, in Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, volume II, Boston, Mass.: Boston Society of Natural History, published 1872, →OCLC, page 163:

Here is an embryo, or young form, which has just escaped from the egg, and is hurrying off seawards to "see life," without doubt, and to begin life in earnest as well. You now behold a little body, which, roughly described, we shall say has a triangular shape. It has a tail behind, and the shield or "shell" with which the little body is covered, is prolonged in front and at its side-angles or corners into spines or horns. Three pairs of feet, or appendages that resemble these organs, are possessed by the infant barnacle, the two hinder pairs being forked at their tips and provided with long bristles. A single eye appears in front of the two foremost "feet;" and a mouth, stomach, and intestine are discovered within this little body. Thus provided within and without, this little Cyclopean creature swims merrily through the sea. In this stage it is universally named the Nauplius.

1877, Andrew Wilson, “Some Animal Histories”, in Robert Brown, editor, Science for All, volume I, London, Paris, New York, N.Y.: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., →OCLC, page 80, column 1:

Fairy-shrimps are primitive crustaceans, most of which live in temporary ponds, roadside ditches, or marshes that dry up in sumer. They lay thick-walled eggs that withstand summer drying and winter freezing, lying dormant in the mud until they hatch out as naupliuses when wetted by the first heavy spring rain.

1987, Ralph [Morris] Buchsbaum, Mildred Buchsbaum, John Pearse, Vicki Pearse, “Lobsters and Other Arthropods: Crustaceans”, in Animals without Backbones, 3rd edition, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 345:

It is not certain that phaseluses are trilobites and not naupliuses of crustaceans or an extinct group of arthropods that has yet to be recognized.

1997, Roger L[eroy] Kaesler, editor, Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology: Part O, Arthropoda 1, Trilobita Revised, revised edition, volume 1 (Introduction, Order Agnostida, Order Redlichiida), Boulder, Colo.: Geological Society of America; Lawrence, Kan.: University of Kansas, →ISBN, page 187, column 2:

The copepod nauplii concentrations were significantly different among stations and by depth (Appendices 3 and 4).

2001, Naureen A. Qureshi, Nancy N. Rabalais, “Distribution of Zooplankton on a Seasonally Hypoxic Continental Shelf”, in Nancy N. Rabalais, R[obert] Eugene Turner, editors, Coastal Hypoxia: Consequences for Living Resources and Ecosystems (Coastal and Estuarine Studies; 58), Washington, D.C.: American Geophysical Union, →ISBN, page 72:

I suggest that several species of nauplioids hybridized with representatives of several groups of arthropods to give them nauplius larvae. […] The occurrence of nauplius larvae in crustacean taxa appears to be almost random, and it bears little relationship to adult morphology or to evolutionary history. This is consistent with the proposal that nauplii were acquired independently and at various times, and it challenge the widely held view that nauplii played a fundamental role in crustacean evolution.

2003, Donald I[rving] Williamson, “Arthopods”, in The Origins of Larvae, revised edition, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, →ISBN, page 172:

Only nauplii that are attracted to the light at the top of the hatching tank should be collected, since these are the healthy ones.

2007, Aquaculture Management and Conservation Service, Fisheries and Aquaculture Management Division, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, “Pre-spawning Procedures”, in Improving Penaeus monodon Hatchery Practices: Manual Based on Experience in India (FAO Fisheries Technical Paper; 446), Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, →ISBN, section 3.13.2 (Nauplii), page 47:

The taxonomic distribution of nauplii within Crustacea raises questions, however, about the evolution of a nonfeeding but swimming nauplius from an embryonized nauplius. Most malacostracans lack a free nauplius stage. Euphausiaceans and dendrobranchiate shrimp, which hatch as nonfeeding nauplii, are the exceptions. Inferred phylogenies of malacostracans imply that either the ancestor lacked a free nauplius and free nauplii subsequently evolved again, or that egg nauplii evolved multiple times[…].

2018, Richard R. Strathmann, “Larvae and Direct Development”, in Gary A. Wellborn, Martin Thiel, editors, Life Histories (The Natural History of the Crustacea; 5), New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 158:

(zoology) A crustacean larva that has three pairs of locomotive organs (corresponding to antennules, antennae, and mandibles), a median eye, and little or no segmentation of the body.


clavicorn

From Latin clavus (“key”) + cornu (“horn”).

(zoology) Having antennas shaped like clubs; used especially of the Clavicornes group of beetles


lichenometry

In lichenometry, a lichen is presumed to grow radially at a specific, constant rate: this rate is used to estimate the age of the largest lichen on a rock surface, and thus the length of time the rock has been exposed.

The sophistication of approach to lichenometry has increased markedly in the last decade or two.

2004, Jean M. Grove, Little Ice Ages: Ancient and Modern, Volume 1, 2nd edition, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), page 7:

Lichenometry is a surface-exposure dating method that uses lichen-growth rates to infer the age of young ([a] few thousand years old or younger) glacial landforms, typically bouldery deposits such as moraines.[…]Several approaches have been employed to measure lichens, and a distinct advantage of lichenometry over other techniques is its simplicity (Bradwell, 2009).

2011, Jason P. Briner, “Dating Glacial Landforms”, in Vijay P. Singh, Pratap Singh, Umesh K. Haritashya, editors, Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers, Springer, page 177:

Lichenometry is a dating method which is based upon the direct relationship between lichen diameter and age.

2012, Matti Saarnisto, “I.4: Time-scales and dating”, in B. Huntley, T. Webb III, editors, Handbook of vegetation science, Volume 7: Vegetation history, Kluwer Academic, page 102:

(archaeology, paleontology, geomorphology) A geomorphic method of geochronologic dating that uses lichen growth to determine the age of exposed rock.

lichenometrie

geochronologic dating method that uses lichen growth


hencoop

From Middle English henne coupe; equivalent to hen + coop.


elater

From New Latin elatēr, from Ancient Greek ἐλατήρ (elatḗr, “driver, that which drives away”).


cubitus

Borrowed from Latin cubitus. Doublet of cubit.

(entomology) One of the major veins of the insect wing, between the media and the postcubitus; the vein running along the dorsal edge of the discal cell.


calyptra

en-noun

calyptra (plural calyptras or calyptrae)

From Ancient Greek καλύπτρα (kalúptra, “covering or veiling”).

der

(entomology) In flies such as the housefly, Musca, in the taxonomic order Diptera, zoological section Schizophora, subsection Calyptrata, the calyptra is a membranous rearward extension of the forewing; it covers the haltere.


tarsometatarsus

(zoology) The large bone in the leg of a bird, or some bird-like dinosaurs, connected to the foot, homologous to the mammalian tarsus and metatarsus.


concolorate

(botany, zoology) Having a uniform colour


bilocal

(anthropology) Describing a situation in which a married couple alternate their residence between that of the wife's and husband's group


velarium

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-velarium.wav

(zoology) The marginal membrane of certain medusae belonging to the Discophora.


perigonium

(dated, zoology) The wall of the sporosac in a hydroid.


sporosac

(zoology) An early or simple larval stage of trematode worms and some other invertebrates, which is capable of reproducing other germ cells by asexual generation; a redia.


pannicle

From Middle French pannicle, and its source, Late Latin panniculus (“membrane”), from Latin panniculus (“small rag”), from pannus (“cloth”).

(anatomy, zoology) A membrane of tissue in the body of a human or animal.


spongocoel

(zoology) The large central cavity of a sponge.


isogonic

en-adj

isogonic (comparative more isogonic, superlative most isogonic)

more isogonic (comparative)
most isogonic (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-isogonic.wav

(zoology) Exhibiting, or relating to, isogonism.


first contact

en-noun

first contact (usually uncountable, plural first contacts)

(anthropology) The first meeting between people of two previously unknown cultures.


ahool

A flying cryptid first reported in the 1920s, supposedly a giant bat or pterosaur.


tettigoniid

/ˌtɛtɪˈɡəʊniɪd/

Representatives of the Mermithidae are the most common nematode parasites of tettigoniids, however spirurids and more rarely, subulurids and thelastomatids, also occur in some members of this family.

1975, George O. Poinar, Entomogenous Nematodes: A Manual and Host List of Insect-nematode Associations:

(zoology) Any member of the family Tettigoniidae, the katydids or bush-crickets.


longicorn

From Latin longus (“long”) + cornu (“horn”). Compare French longicorne.

(zoology, obsolete) Of or relating to the Longicornia, an obsolete group of insects. Some are now classified as Cerambycidae (longhorn beetles).


Paiute

From Spanish payuchi, payuta, compare Spanish yuta (“Ute”).

(anthropology) Any member of two related groups of North American aboriginal peoples: the Northern Paiute of California, Nevada, and Oregon, and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.


lamellicorn

From French lamellicorne, from Latin lamella (“a thin plate”) + cornu (“a horn”).

(entomology, of antennae) Having a group of flat lamellae on the end.

(entomology, of beetles) Having such antennae.


tripus

Unadapted borrowing from Latin tripūs, from Ancient Greek τρίπους (trípous); doublet of tripod and teapoy. In the sense associated with Cambridge University, the Tripus is named after the three-legged stool on which he sat during the degree-awarding ceremony.

(zoology, in cypriniform fishes) The hindmost Weberian ossicle of the Weberian apparatus, touching the anterior wall of the swimbladder and connected by a dense, elongate ligament to the intercalarium.


didelphic

From Ancient Greek δύο (dúo, “two, di-”) + Ancient Greek δελφύς (delphús, “womb”) + -ic.

af

two, <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">di-</i>

In didelphic uterus the uterus above the cervix is divided into two separate cavities.

2006, Dr Thomas Stuttaford, “Condition that increases the risks in pregnancy”, in The Times:


virgula

From Latin virgula (“twig; wand; scratch comma”), from virga (“branch; rod”) + -ulus (“-ule: forming diminutives”). As a dowsing rod, via virgula divina or divinatoria. Doublet of virgule.

der

(zoology) A small, thin, straight growth, particularly:

A small, thin, straight growth
The spines of a ray.

A small, thin, straight growth
The sicula of a graptolite.


metasomatic

(entomology) Of or pertaining to the metasoma.


olitiau

Probably a fusion of the Ipulo words ole and ntya.

"What kind of a bat is it," I asked, "that has wings like this (opening my arms) and is all black?" "Olitiau!" somebody almost screamed, and there was a hurried conference in the Assumbo tongue.

1943, Clifton Fadiman, Sinclair Lewis, Carl Van Doren, The Three Readers:

...the kongamato like the olitiau is in the habit of diving at men crossing its territory — perhaps trying to drive them away...

1958, Bernard Heuvelmans, On the tracks of unknown animals:

As large as a huge eagle, local tribesmen called it an Olitiau.

1998, Robert Nicholson, Great Mysteries:

Several authorities have boldly attempted to equate the olitiau with a pterodactyl, in preference to a giant bat.

2003, Karl Shuker, The beasts that hide from man: seeking the world's last undiscovered animals:

Known locally as the olitiau, the creature that buzzed Dr. Sanderson was similar to dozens of other strange birds said to still inhabit remote corners of Africa.

2006, E. Randall Floyd, The world's 100 greatest mysteries:

In his youth, Sanderson, a Scot, was an explorer who mounted expeditions into some of the world's most isolated jungles, recording numerous thus-far unknown creatures — most notably, the gigantic bat-like creature known as the Olitiau, which attacked his party while he was exploring in the Assumbo Mountains of Cameroon.

2008, Rory Storm, Monster Hunt: The Guide to Cryptozoology:

A gigantic cryptid of Central Africa, said to resemble a bat or flying reptile.


digitation

en-noun

digitation (countable and uncountable, plural digitations)

/dɪdʒɪˈteɪʃən/

(zoology, botany) Any of various finger-like processes (outgrowths) found in plant and animal tissues.


intersegment

The intersegments are homologous to the transverse conjunctivae of the preabdomen. They are frequently equal in extent to the segments themselves, functioning as a membranous sheath for the inclusion of the segments when at rest, and acting as a telescopic extension for the lengthening of the ovipositor when in operation.

(zoology) A telescoping section of an ovipositor, between its main segments.


leucism

(zoology, pathology) An animal condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes (caused by a reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin).


scrub bird

(zoology) A shy, secretive, ground-dwelling passerine bird of the genus Atrichornis, found in Australia.


glirid

(zoology) Any member of the family Gliridae of dormice.


myoxid

(zoology) Any member of the family Myoxidae of dormice (better known as the Gliridae).


kongamato

From Kaonde [Term?] (literally “breaker of boats”).

der

[…] the kongamato like the olitiau is in the habit of diving at men crossing its territory — perhaps trying to drive them away […]

[…] swamp conceals a terrifying "lizard bird" called the kongamato.

2000, E. Randall Floyd, The world's 100 greatest mysteries: strange secrets of the past revealed:

When crossing rivers, some of them carried amulets that would protect them from a Kongamato.

2002, George M. Eberhart, Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology, Volume 2:

Also described as being like a giant bat, the Kongamato has large teeth, red leathery skin, and a wingspan of four to seven feet.

2008, Oliver Ho, Mysteries Unwrapped: Mutants & Monsters:

(cryptozoology) A pterosaur-like cryptid of Africa.


luna moth

(entomology) A large, green American moth, Actias luna, that has crescent-shaped marks on its wings.


nidicolous

en-adj

nidicolous (comparative more nidicolous, superlative most nidicolous)

more nidicolous (comparative)
most nidicolous (superlative)

(zoology) Tending to stay at the nest or birthplace for a long time after birth, due to dependence on the parents for feeding and protection.

neizhvagat

tending to stay at the nest or birthplace


soldierless

...some of the more highly evolved cryptic termites are soldierless.

2006, Helmut König, Ajit Varma, Intestinal microorganisms of termites and other invertebrates:


nymphine

(entomology, rare, obsolete) Pertaining to a nymph or nymphs.


nymphid

M. nebulosus, the only nymphid so far described from New Guinea, is considerably larger than others of this genus, and is distinct on wing markings and (from those known) on male genitalic features.

1981, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australian Journal of Zoology, volume 29, page 742:

Trichosors are probably plesiomorphic, being retained only by nymphids.

1992, Horst Aspöck, Mervyn W. Mansell, Current Research in Neuropterology: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Neuropterology, Bagnères-de-Luchon, Haute-Garonne, France, 24-27 June 1991, page 239:

This rarity seems to be a general feature of most nymphid species, only two of which - Nymphes myrmeleonides and Myiodactylus osmyloides - appear to be encountered with any regularity.

1998, Journal of Neuropterology, volumes 1-2, page 80:

Characteristically, the larvae hold their jaws open at very wide angles; some New World species resemble nymphids in being able to open their jaws beyond 270°.

2009, Catherine A. Tauber, Maurice J. Tauber, Gilberto S. Albuquerque, “Neuroptera (Lacewings, Antlions)”, in Vincent H. Resh, Ring T. Cardé, editors, Encyclopedia of Insects, page 701:

split-footed lacewing
split-footed lacewing

(zoology) Any winged insect of the family Nymphidae, a split-footed lacewing.


stygofauna

(zoology) Any fauna that live within groundwater systems, such as caves and aquifers, particularly the small, aquatic groundwater invertebrates


ploughzone

(archaeology) The upper region of soil that has undergone ploughing.


mason shell

(zoology) carrier shell (family Xenophoridae)


gorgonopsid

(zoology) Any member of the suborder Gorgonopsia of therapsid synapsids.


scansorial

scansorial (comparative more scansorial, superlative most scansorial)

more scansorial (comparative)
most scansorial (superlative)

From Latin scansarius, from scansus, past participle of scandere (“to climb”).

scansorial claws

(zoology) Adapted to or specialised for climbing

The forelimbs of saltatory animals often resemble those of ambulatory or scansorial species, […]

2008, Brian Hall, Fins into Limbs: Evolution, Development, and Transformation, page 261:

(zoology) Habitually climbing; tending to climb


brachyuran

From the infraorder Brachyura (the true crabs), + -an.


illicium

(ichthyology) The modified dorsal fin on the head of anglerfish, acting as a lure.


tritocerebral

(entomology) Of or pertaining to the tritocerebrum.


actinost

From New Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀκτίς (aktís, “ray”) + ὀστέον (ostéon, “bone”).

The second well-developed actinost is below the vertebra supporting the subcaudal blood-vessels, but that is not so strong proximally as the first; the ribs are not directed downwards, but backwards, and are entirely separated from each other.

1889, Dr. G. Baur, “On the morphology of ribs and the fate of the actinosts of the median fin in fishes”, in Journal of morphology, volume 3:

(ichthyology) A bone at the base of a paired fin (of a fish)


phocid

(mammalogy) Any member of the family Phocidae, the true seals


hyperoodon

/haɪpəˈɹəʊədɒn/

(zoology) A whale in the genus Hyperoodon of the order Cetacea, comprising both species of bottlenose whale.


retractor

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-retractor.wav

(zoology) A muscle serving to draw in any part.


falcula

(plural only, zoology) A curved and sharp-pointed claw.


murmuration

en-noun

murmuration (countable and uncountable, plural murmurations)

/ˌmɝməˈɹeɪʃən/

/ˌmɜːməˈɹeɪʃən/

1350–1400; Medieval Latin murmuratio (“murmuring, grumbling”). The “flock of starlings” sense is probably derived from the sound of the very large groups that starlings form at dusk.

bor

"Oh! I wasted most of my morning crawling to a murmuration of starlings, which I foolishly mistook for congregation of plover."

1893 September 27, The Bazaar, the Exchange and Mart, London, page 800, column 3:

The same dynamics can be seen in starlings: On clear winter evenings, murmurations of the tiny blackish birds gather in Rome’s sunset skies, wheeling about like rustling cloth.

2013 March 19, Ed Yong, “How the Science of Swarms Can Help Us Fight Cancer and Predict the Future”, in Wired:

Professor Anne Goodenough, an applied ecologist at the University of Gloucestershire who led the research, said: ‘It appears murmuration has become the norm – a general way for the starlings to stay safe from predators.’

2017 July 29, “Solved, the riddle of starlings' aerial ballet: Birds use acrobatics to ward off creatures of prey”, in Daily Mail:

(ornithology, collective) A flock of starlings.


strigose

en-adj

strigose (comparative more strigose, superlative most strigose)

more strigose (comparative)
most strigose (superlative)

/ˈstɹaɪɡəʊs/

From Latin striga (“row, strip, swath”) + -ose; compare strigosus.

(zoology) Having fine grooves, ridges, or streaks.


subcostal

(entomology) Pertaining to the subcosta and/or the area of the wing next to it.


subcostal

(zoology) One of the principal nervures of the wings of an insect, situated next beneath or behind the costal.


actinotrichium

(zoology) Any of a group of hairlike fibres in the finfolds of fish larvae that develop into fin rays


lophophore

From Ancient Greek λόφος (lóphos, “crest, tuft”) + -phore.

af

(zoology) A feeding organ of brachiopods, bryozoans and phoronids.


tylopod

From Ancient Greek τύλη (túlē, “knob, hump”) + -pod (“foot”).

(zoology) Any even-toed ungulate mammal, of the suborder Tylopoda, including the camels.


scarabaeid

From Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabos, “horned beetle”), via Latin scarabaeus.

uder

(zoology, entomology) Any beetle of the family Scarabaeidae (which includes stag- and dung-beetles).


scarabaeoid

(jewelry, archaeology) Resembling a scarab in form, but without being made to look like a beetle.

(obsolete, entomology) Of or pertaining to beetles in the family Scarabaeidae.

(entomology) Of or pertaining to beetles in the superfamily Scarabaeoidea.


laciniate

From Latin lacinia (“flap or edge of a garment”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

af

(botany, zoology) Cut into deep irregular usually pointed lobes.


saltern

From Old English sealtærn, from sealt (“salt”) + ærn (“place, building”).

(archaeology) An area used for saltmaking, especially in the East Anglian fenlands.


coarctate

en-adj

coarctate (comparative more coarctate, superlative most coarctate)

more coarctate (comparative)
most coarctate (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin coarctātus, perfect participle of coarctō (“to press together, compress, contract, confine”), from co- (“being or bringing together, co-”) + arctō (“to draw or press close together”).

af

(entomology) (of the pupa of certain flies) Enclosed in a rigid case formed by the larval cuticle or puparium.


litoptern

From modern Latin Litopterna (order name), from Ancient Greek λῑτός (lītós, “smooth”) + πτέρνη (ptérnē, “heel-bone”).

[C]ertain litopterns like the camel-like Macrauchenia also lived on until within 15,000 years before the present.

2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 73:

(zoology) An extinct hoofed mammal of the order †Litopterna, from the Cenozoic period.


unguiculate

en-adj

unguiculate (comparative more unguiculate, superlative most unguiculate)

more unguiculate (comparative)
most unguiculate (superlative)

(zoology) Having nails or claws, as distinguished from hoofs.


physeteroid

(zoology) Any sperm whale (of the family Physeteridae).


mysticete

(zoology) Any of the baleen whales (of parvorder Mysticeti).


paleozoology

(zoology) The branch of zoology dealing with fossils, and the creatures that were transformed into them


oestrum

en-noun

oestrum (countable and uncountable, plural oestrums)


chiropteran

(zoology) Any mammal, of the order Chiroptera, that has forelimbs modified to form wings; a bat.


episternum

episternum (plural episternums or episterna)

(entomology) The anterior part of the pleuron of an insect.