† pinnigradeadj.n.
Zoology. Obsolete.
A. adj.
1. Swimming by means of pinnae, as a free-living crinoid. rare.
ΚΠ
1841 E. Forbes Hist. Brit. Starfishes 3 The pinnæ with which the arms are furnished, have the skin so developed on their sides as to enable them to serve as fins wherewith the animal can swim through the water.., whence the name of Pinnigrade Echinoderms which I have applied to them, indicative of their mode of progression.
2. Walking by means of finlike organs or flippers; spec. designating a carnivorous mammal of the former group Pinnigrada, which comprised the pinnipeds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by locomotion > [adjective] > adapted for walking > walking by means of flippers
pinnigrade1849
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Pinnipedia (seal, sea lion, or walrus) > [adjective]
pinnigrade1849
pinniped1858
Pinnipedian1880
1849 R. Owen in Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. IV. 914/2 In the pinnigrade, as in the plantigrade, family of Carnivores we find the teeth which correspond to true molars more numerous than in the digitigrade species.
1876 H. A. Nicholson Man. Zool. 575 The second family of the Pinnigrade Carnivores is that of the Trichecidæ, comprising only the Walrus.
B. n.
= pinniped n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Pinnipedia (seal, sea lion, or walrus) > [noun] > member of
sea-wolfc1550
pinniped1842
Pinnipedia1857
pinnigrade1862
slimskin1884
1862 J. Richardson Mus. Nat. Hist. p. xxxiv/1 The Seals..are called Pinnigrades, from the fact that they progress by means of their fins, or fin-like feet.
1880 Libr. Universal Knowl. XI. 723 The pinnigrades include three families, the earless seals,..the eared seals,..and the walruses.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1841