amniote

[am-nee-oht]

noun

1. any vertebrate of the group Amniota, comprising the reptiles, birds, and mammals, characterized by having an amnion during the embryonic stage.

amniote

/ ˈæmnɪəʊt /

noun

1. any vertebrate animal, such as a reptile, bird, or mammal, that possesses an amnion, chorion, and allantois during embryonic development Compare anamniote

amniote

1. Any of the vertebrates that have an amnion during embryonic development. Reptiles, birds, and mammals are amniotes.

Word History and Origins

Origin of amniote¹

< New Latin amniota; amnion, -ote

Example Sentences

The researchers say that this skin may represent the ancestral skin structure for terrestrial vertebrates in early amniotes that allowed for the eventual evolution of bird feathers and mammalian hair follicles.

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Some of the earliest bones of amniotes were found in Nova Scotia around the same time the creatures would have been in what’s now northern Arizona, Rowland said.

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Dinosaurs, birds, reptiles and even mammals are known as amniotes, a branch of the vertebrate family tree that evolved approximately 300 million years ago, Wiemann said.

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If their finding is confirmed, that would make E. carrolldongi the earliest known example of an amniote — the group that includes mammals, reptiles and birds — that uses touch over sight to hunt.

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And if this experimentation began as far back as 290 million years ago, that could shift researchers’ understanding of the rise of the amniotes.

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