Palaeospondylus

noun

Palaeo·​spondylus

: a genus of extinct primitive vertebrates that are known from a single form (P. gunni) of the Devonian of Scotland that is usually about one inch long with a large skull, branchial arches and jaws highly modified or possibly absent, a segmented vertebral column, and the caudal fin and limb girdles well-developed, and that is usually placed among the Placodermi but sometimes considered a cyclostome see cycliae

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from pale- + -spondylus

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