temnospondyl

noun

1. Any of many extinct primitive amphibians (labyrinthodonts) of the order Temnospondyli, from the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods.

   Experts disagree over whether temnospondyls were ancestral to modern amphibians (frogs, salamanders and caecilians), or whether the whole group died out without leaving descendants.

Where it comes from

From translingual Temnospondyli, from Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”) + σπόνδυλος (spóndulos), Ionic/Attic form of σφόνδυλος (sphóndulos, “vertebra”).

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry temnospondyl (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← telsontemporale →

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