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graptolite
[ grap-tuh-lahyt ]
/ ˈgræp təˌlaɪt /
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noun
any colonial animal of the extinct class Graptolithina, most common in the Ordovician and Silurian Periods, thought to be related to the pterobranchs.
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Origin of graptolite
1830–40; <Greek graptó(s) painted, marked with letters (verbal adjective from gráphein to write) + -lite
OTHER WORDS FROM graptolite
grap·to·lit·ic [grap-tuh-lit-ik], /ˌgræp təˈlɪt ɪk/, adjectiveWords nearby graptolite
grapple ground, grapple plant, grapple shot, grappling, grappling iron, graptolite, grapy, GRAS, Grasmere, grasp, grasp at straws
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use graptolite in a sentence
The strata consist of greywackes, flags and shales with seams and zones of graptolite shale which yield fossils sparingly.
A typical graptolite consists of an axis bearing a series of tooth-like projections, like a saw.
The genus Bryograptus, a many-branched graptolite, also appears to characterise this fauna.
The Principles of Stratigraphical Geology|J. E. MarrThese consist of greywackes, flags and shales with bands of dark graptolite shales, the finer sediments being often well cleaved.
British Dictionary definitions for graptolite
graptolite
/ (ˈɡræptəˌlaɪt) /
noun
any extinct Palaeozoic colonial animal of the class Graptolithina, usually regarded as related to either the hemichordates or the coelenterates: a common fossil, used to determine the age of sedimentary rocks
Word Origin for graptolite
C19: from Greek graptos written, from graphein to write + -lite
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Scientific definitions for graptolite
graptolite
[ grăp′tə-līt′ ]
Any of numerous hemichordates of the class Graptolithina. Graptolites form colonies consisting of interlocked cuplike chambers arranged in one or more branches and covered by an exoskeleton. They flourished from the late Cambrian to the early Mississippian Period, and were thought to be extinct until 1992 when scientists discovered what is believed to be a living species. Graptolites are important index fossils used to date the rocks of the Silurian and Ordovician Periods.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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