crossopterygian
/ˌkrɒsɒptəˈrɪdʒɪən
/Zoology
noun
A lobe-finned fish, such as the coelacanth.The sarcopterygians include the lungfish, together with the crossopterygians, which are composed of coelacanths and the extinct rhipidistians....
- These similarities have prompted evolutionists to confidently declare that crossopterygians evolved into tetrapods.
- One group of extinct crossopterygians, known as the rhipidistians, are the group thought by most to be the ones that successfully invaded land and gave rise to amphibians.
adjective
Relating to crossopterygians.Latimeria is a ‘living fossil,’ a single surviving species of the old lineage of crossopterygian fishes....
- After a light breakfast I studied a draft of a paper that we had just submitted on the new fossil crossopterygian fishes of the Aztec Siltstone.
- Large Bothriolepis plates were scattered around through the rocks with abundant crossopterygian bones and scales in the top units.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from modern Latin Crossopterygii, from Greek krossos 'tassel' + pterux, pterug- 'fin'.