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heterocercal

American  
[het-er-uh-sur-kuhl] / ˌhɛt ər əˈsɜr kəl /

adjective

Ichthyology.

  1. having an unequally divided tail, characteristic of sharks, rays, and skates.

heterocercal British  
/ ˌhɛtərəʊˈsɜːkəl /

adjective

  1. ichthyol of or possessing a tail in which the vertebral column turns upwards and extends into the upper, usually larger, lobe, as in sharks Compare homocercal

"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

Other Word Forms

  • heterocercality noun

Etymology

Origin of heterocercal

1830–40; hetero- + Greek kérk ( os ) a tail + -al 1

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.