cotylosaur

[ kot-l-uh-sawr ]
/ ˈkɒt l əˌsɔr /

noun

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.

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Also called root reptile, stem reptile.

Origin of cotylosaur

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

OTHER WORDS FROM cotylosaur

cot·y·lo·sau·ri·an, adjective

Words nearby cotylosaur

coty, cotyledon, cotyloid, cotyloid cavity, cotyloid joint, cotylosaur, cotype, cou-cou, coucal, couch, couch grass
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Scientific definitions for stem reptile (1 of 2)

stem reptile

See cotylosaur.

Scientific definitions for stem reptile (2 of 2)

cotylosaur
[ kŏt′l-ə-sôr′ ]

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. Also called stem reptile
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.