THERAPSID

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does therapsid mean? 

• THERAPSID (noun)
  The noun THERAPSID has 1 sense:

1. probably warm-blooded; considered direct ancestor of mammals

  Familiarity information: THERAPSID used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THERAPSID (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Probably warm-blooded; considered direct ancestor of mammals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

protomammal; therapsid

Hypernyms ("therapsid" is a kind of...):

synapsid; synapsid reptile (extinct reptile having a single pair of lateral temporal openings in the skull)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "therapsid"):

Chronoperates paradoxus (shrew-sized protomammal from the Alberta region of Canada; from about 55 million years ago (much more recent than other mammal-like reptiles))

cynodont (small carnivorous reptiles)

dicynodont (a kind of therapsid)

Holonyms ("therapsid" is a member of...):

order Therapsida; Therapsida (extinct mammal-like reptiles found inhabiting all continents from the mid Permian to late Triassic)

 Context examples 

Dramatic changes also began to appear in the forelimbs of animals known as non-mammalian therapsids.

(What makes a mammal a mammal? Our spine, say scientists, National Science Foundation)