cotylosaur

[ kot-l-uh-sawr ]

noun

1. any member of the extinct order Cotylosauria, comprising heavy-bodied, splay-limbed, plant-eating reptiles that arose during the Carboniferous Period and that are considered to include the ancestors of all other reptiles.

cotylosaur

/ kŏt′l-ə-sôr′ /

1. Any of a number of extinct reptiles of the group Cotylosauria or Captorhinida of the Carboniferous and Permian Periods that include the ancestors of all terrestrial vertebrates except for amphibians. Cotylosaurs evolved from early amphibians, had four sprawling legs and a long tail, and a skull without temporal openings.
2. Also called stem reptile

Other Words From

• coty·lo·sauri·an adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cotylosaur¹

1900–05; < New Latin Cotylosauria, equivalent to cotyl ( lus ) a hollow space in the bones forming the distinctive articulation of skull and vertebrae, which originally defined the order (masculine noun < Greek kotýlē socket, cup, anything hollow) + -o- -o- + -sauria; -saur, -ia