Stereospondyli (Noun)
Meaning
Formerly a suborder of Stegocephalia; amphibia having vertebrae whose component elements are fused into a single piece; "most vertebrates are stereospondylous".
Classification
Nouns denoting animals.
Examples
- Stereospondyli is an archaic term that is now mostly replaced by the suborders Metoposauroidea and Trematosauria within the order Temnospondyli.
- In some old classifications, Stereospondyli was used as a suborder that contained various lineages of temnospondyls with stereospondylous vertebrae.
- The group Stereospondyli is characterized by the fusion of the neural and haemal arches to the centrum in the vertebrae.
- Many stereospondyli were relatively large, with some species reaching lengths of several meters.
- The Stereospondyli lineage was once thought to contain all temnospondyls with "stereospondylous" vertebrae.