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 ( 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
As implied above the brush mouse is adapted for a scansorial mode of life; but other mice and rats inhabit the rocky crevices of low bluffs.
From Natural History of the Brush Mouse (Peromyscus boylii) in Kansas With Description of a New Subspecies by Long, Charles A.
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
They belong to the scansorial order of birds; that is, they have two toes forward and two backward.
From Minnie's Pet Parrot by Leslie, Madeline
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.
