ichthyosaur
any fishlike marine reptile of the extinct order Ichthyosauria, ranging from 4 to 40 feet (1.2 to 12 meters) in length and having a round, tapering body, a large head, four paddlelike flippers, and a vertical caudal fin.
Origin of ichthyosaur
1Other words from ichthyosaur
- ich·thy·o·sau·ri·an, adjective, noun
- ich·thy·o·sau·roid, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ichthyosaur in a sentence
Like whales and seals, the ichthyosaurs were descended from land vertebrates which had become adapted to a marine habitat.
The Elements of Geology | William Harmon NortonThey were something like the ichthyosaurs, but with smaller heads and much longer, more slender, serpentlike bodies.
Geology | William J. MillerThey were eight or nine feet long, and in every other respect resembled Ichthyosaurs.
Extinct Monsters | H. N. HutchinsonCordylomorpha are Ichthyosaurs and the Labyrinthodont group.
Dragons of the Air | H. G. Seeley
British Dictionary definitions for ichthyosaur
ichthyosaurus (ˌɪkθɪəˈsɔːrəs)
/ (ˈɪkθɪəˌsɔː) /
any extinct marine Mesozoic reptile of the order Ichthyosauria, which had a porpoise-like body with dorsal and tail fins and paddle-like limbs: See also plesiosaur
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
Scientific definitions for ichthyosaur
[ ĭk′thē-ə-sôr′ ]
Any of various extinct sea reptiles of the genus Ichthyosaurus and related genera, that had a medium-sized to large dolphin-like body with a dorsal fin, four flippers, and a large, crescent-shaped tail. The head had a long beak with sharp teeth, large eyes and earbones, and nostrils near the eyes on top of the skull. Ichthyosaurs were most common and diverse in the Triassic and Jurassic Periods and died out well before the end of the Cretaceous.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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