labyrinthodont

American  

[lab-uh-rin-thuh-dont] / ˌlæb əˈrɪn θəˌdɒnt /

noun

1. any member of several orders of small to large lizardlike terrestrial and freshwater amphibians, some ancestral to land vertebrates, forming the extinct subclass Labyrinthodonta that flourished from the Devonian through the Triassic periods, characterized by a solid, flattened skull and conical teeth.

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adjective

1. having teeth with complexly infolded enamel surfaces.

2. belonging to or pertaining to the Labyrinthodonta.

labyrinthodont British  

/ ˌlæbəˈrɪnθəˌdɒnt /

noun

1. any primitive amphibian of the order Labyrinthodontia, of late Devonian to Triassic times, having teeth with much-folded dentine

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labyrinthodont Scientific  

/ lăb′ə-rĭn′thə-dŏnt′ /

1. Any of various extinct amphibians of the group Labyrinthodontia, which were the dominant animals of the late Paleozoic Era. Labyrinthodonts had stocky, lizardlike bodies with short limbs, and fishlike teeth with labyrinthine structure (with complex infolding of the enamel). They varied from the size of a salamander to that of a crocodile. One early genus, Ichthyostega, was probably the first terrestrial vertebrate.

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Etymology

Origin of labyrinthodont

1840–50; < New Latin Labyrinthodonta, equivalent to Greek labýrinth ( os ) labyrinth + -odonta, neuter plural of -odontos -odont

Example Sentences

But scientists in Australia announced that they have uncovered the jawbone of a labyrinthodont, forerunner of the land dinosaurs, that was alive and well as recently as 110 million years ago.

From Time Magazine Archive

The rarity in the deposits of animals of larger body size than Captorhinus, the exceptions being a few limb fragments and skull fragments of labyrinthodont or pelycosaurian nature.

From Two New Pelycosaurs from the Lower Permian of Oklahoma by Fox, Richard C.

To express these facts taxonomically requires that Hesperoherpeton be removed from the family Cricotidae, suborder Embolomeri, order Anthracosauria, and placed in a new order and family of labyrinthodont Amphibia.

From A New Order of Fishlike Amphibia From the Pennsylvanian of Kansas by Eaton, Theodore H. (Theodore Hildreth)