amplexus

American  

[am-plek-suhs] / æmˈplɛk səs /

noun

plural

amplexuses, amplexus

1. the clasping posture of fertilization in frogs and toads.

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Etymology

Origin of amplexus

1925–30; < New Latin, Latin: embrace, equivalent to amplect ( ī ) to embrace ( am-, variant of ambi- ambi- + plectī, deponent of plectere to plait, twine; complex, plexus ) + -tus suffix of v. action

Example Sentences

All the logic and desire that guides a female frog to a specific pond vanishes once she arrives, and a melee ensues as males race to cling to her in a tight embrace called amplexus.

From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2022

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Bombay Night frogs in Dorsal straddle: a new amplexus mode in frogs.

From The Guardian • Jun. 14, 2016

Male hyalinobatrachines battle on top of leaves and wrestle, with their fighting poses often resembling amplexus.

From Scientific American • Jan. 25, 2013

Fuit et Labyrinthus nullo addito ligno exædificatus, domos mille et regias duodecim perpetuo parietis ambitu amplexus, marmore exstructus et tectus, unum in se descensum habens, intus pene innumerabiles vias, multis ambagibus huc et illuc remeantibus.

From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 06 Madiera, the Canaries, Ancient Asia, Africa, etc. by Hakluyt, Richard

Some of the specimens contain producti, and fragments of the coral named amplexus.

From Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea by Franklin, John