creodont
any of a diverse group of extinct predatory mammals, from the Paleocene to Pleistocene epochs, that constituted the suborder Creodonta, of the order Carnivora, developing along evolutionary lines somewhat parallel to those of the ancestors of modern carnivores and typically having a stocky, doglike body and a long, low skull.
Origin of creodont
1Words Nearby creodont
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use creodont in a sentence
The group is believed to be derived from a creodont allied to the Eocene Palaeonictis (see Creodonta).
The well-known plantigrade tread of bears is a primitive characteristic which has survived from their creodont ancestry.
The Elements of Geology | William Harmon NortonThe skull is described as being creodont-like, but the dentition is that of the microdont modern Dogs.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia | Frank Evers BeddardThere are, however, other points of likeness which seem rather to point to a creodont origin.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia | Frank Evers BeddardIt is a much-specialised creodont, and therefore exhibits well the distinctive characters of the group.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia | Frank Evers Beddard
British Dictionary definitions for creodont
/ (ˈkriːəˌdɒnt) /
any of a group of extinct Tertiary mammals some of which are thought to have been the ancestors of modern carnivores: order Carnivora
Origin of creodont
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for creodont
[ krē′ə-dŏnt′ ]
Any of various extinct carnivorous mammals of the order Creodonta of the Paleocene to the Pliocene Epochs. Creodonts had long, low skulls with crests to which chewing muscles were attached. They were the dominant carnivorous mammals for millions of years, and were once believed to be ancestral to modern carnivores.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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