Advertisement

Advertisement

dicynodont

/ daɪˈsɪnəˌdɒnt /

noun

  1. any of various extinct Triassic mammal-like reptiles having a single pair of tusklike teeth
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of dicynodont1

C19: from Greek, from di- 1+ kuōn dog + -odont
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examining the dicynodont skulls, the team found that a shift occurred midway through the group’s evolution: the appearance of soft tissue attachments supporting the teeth, akin to the ligaments present in modern mammals.

Despite its appearance, this burly behemoth was a completely different prehistoric beast: a dicynodont.

However, the team were able to date the newly discovered fossils to between 210 and 205 million years ago, making it 10 million years younger than previously discovered dicynodont samples.

Christian Kammerer, a dicynodont specialist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences not involved in the find, said the size of Lisowicia was “startling.”

They didn't immediately recognize the new dicynodont as such—in part because it is so big, Sulej says.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


dicyclopentadienyl metaldid