sphenodon

[sfee-nuh-don, sfen-uh-]

noun

1. tuatara.

sphenodon

/ ˈsfiːnəˌdɒn /

noun

1. the technical name for the tuatara

Word History and Origins

Origin of sphenodon¹

1875–80; < New Latin: genus name (originally Sphaenodon ), equivalent to Greek sphēn- sphen- + -odōn -toothed ( -odont )

Word History and Origins

Origin of sphenodon¹

C19: from Greek sphēn a wedge + odōn a tooth

Example Sentences

Tuatara, scientific name Sphenodon punctatus, only reproduce every four years, and McGeorge spent 12 years attempting to help mother Mustard and father Pixie procreate.

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Sphenodon, sfē′nō-don, n. a genus of South American fossil sloths; a genus of extinct New Zealand lizards.—adj.

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The New Zealand tuatara, or Sphenodon, is the sole surviving member of a reptilian order that once was as widespread and species-rich as are today’s other three reptilian clans — the crocodilians, the snakes and lizards, the turtles and tortoises.

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In Sphenodon the anterior pterygoid muscle arises from the dorsal surface of the pterygoid bone and from the adjacent bones.

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There were reptiles with peculiarities in their teeth such as to have caused their order to be named Amnodontia, and it is members of this extinct order that the lizard Sphenodon more or less resembles, and it is this resemblance which gives it that special interest before noted.

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