tetrapod

tet·ra·pod  (ttr-pd)

adj.

Having four feet, legs, or leglike appendages.

n.

A vertebrate animal with four feet, legs, or leglike appendages.

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tetra·pod n.

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tetrapod  (ttr-pd)

1. Having four feet, legs, or leglike appendages.

2. Any of various mostly terrestrial vertebrates that breathe air with lungs. Most tetrapods have two pairs of limbs, though some, such as whales and snakes, have lost one or both pairs. Tetrapods include the amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and various extinct groups, and evolved from lobe-finned fish during the late Devonian Period. Tetrapods are classified according to the structure of their skull into anapsids, diapsids, and synapsids.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

tetrapod - a vertebrate animal having four feet or legs or leglike appendages craniate, vertebrate - animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton with a segmented spinal column and a large brain enclosed in a skull or cranium quadruped - an animal especially a mammal having four limbs specialized for walking