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selenodont

[si-lee-nuh-dont]
See more synonyms for selenodont on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. having molar teeth with crowns formed of crescent-shaped cusps.
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Origin of selenodont

First recorded in 1880–85; selen(o)- + -odont
Related formsse·le·no·don·ty, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for selenodont

Historical Examples

  • While the molars have the selenodont character of other Pecora, the premolars are more adapted for cutting, with sharp edges.

    The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia

    Frank Evers Beddard

  • The molars are selenodont; but as in the Tragulidae the premolars are more of the nature of cutting teeth.

  • The type genus Xiphodon has selenodont molars and elongated, slender, cutting premolars.

  • The premolars are simple teeth; the molars distinctly bunodont with a tendency in one or two to the selenodont condition.

  • In the Pigs and their allies the crowns are bunodont, while in the more highly specialised Ruminants the crowns are selenodont.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton

    Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for selenodont

selenodont

adjective
  1. (of the teeth of certain mammals) having crescent-shaped ridges on the crowns, as in deer
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noun
  1. a mammal with selenodont teeth
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Word Origin

C19: from seleno- (moon-shaped) + -odont
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