scansorial
Americanadjective
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capable of or adapted for climbing, as the feet of certain birds, lizards, etc.
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habitually climbing, as a woodpecker.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of scansorial
1800–10; < Latin scānsōri ( us ) for climbing ( scand ( ere ) to climb ( see scan) + -tōrius -tory 1, with dt > s ) + -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The South American tropics are dominated by the mostly terrestrial teiioids and mostly scansorial and arboreal iguanians.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 1, 2013
The next species is smaller and more vermiform, with acute compressed claws, a shorter tail, and no crest, and of more scansorial habits.
From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Sterndale, Robert Armitage
He goes on to add: "The anterior limbs are decidedly fossorial, and the hinder suited for walking in a sub-plantigrade manner; both wholly unfitted for rapatory or scansorial purposes."
From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Sterndale, Robert Armitage
Feet scansorial, versatile; the outer toe long, and connected by the first joints to the inner toe.
From Zoological Illustrations, Volume II or Original Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare, or Interesting Animals by Swainson, William
Among the smaller birds in these forests, the trogons—a genus of scansorial birds—are the most beautiful, surpassing their relatives found in other parts of the world.
From The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America by Kingston, William Henry Giles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
