crossopterygian
any fish of the group Crossopterygii, extinct except for the coelacanth, regarded as being ancestral to amphibians and other land vertebrates.
pertaining to or resembling a crossopterygian.
Origin of crossopterygian
1Words Nearby crossopterygian
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use crossopterygian in a sentence
With these remains are found also scales possibly belonging to a crossopterygian fish (Eriptychius).
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2) | David Starr JordanThe braincase of the Carboniferous crossopterygian Megalichthys nitidus.
A New Order of Fishlike Amphibia From the Pennsylvanian of Kansas | Theodore H. EatonThese are found in the garpike and in many genera of extinct Ganoid and crossopterygian fishes.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2) | David Starr JordanIn every modern Dipnoan, crossopterygian, and Ganoid the air-bladder has an effective pneumatic duct.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2) | David Starr JordanIt is not unlikely that the crossopterygian gave rise to Amphibian and Dipnoan alike.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2) | David Starr Jordan
British Dictionary definitions for crossopterygian
/ (krɒˌsɒptəˈrɪdʒɪən) /
any bony fish of the subclass Crossopterygii, having fleshy limblike pectoral fins. The group, now mostly extinct, contains the ancestors of the amphibians: See also coelacanth
of, relating to, or belonging to the Crossopterygii
Origin of crossopterygian
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 crossopterygian
[ krŏ-sŏp′tə-rĭj′ē-ən ]
Any of a mostly extinct group of lobe-finned fishes of the order Crossopterygii, whose only living member is the coelacanth. One group of crossopterygians is thought to have evolved into terrestrial vertebrates beginning in the Devonian Period. See more at coelacanth.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse