Anaspida

plural noun

An·​as·​pi·​da

-pədə

: a class or other division of primitive fishlike ostracoderms having a heterocercal tail and a covering of small elongated scales and known from Silurian-Devonian transition beds of Europe and America

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from an- + -aspida (from Greek aspid-, aspis shield)

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined above

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