| 释义 |
tetrapod, a. and n.|ˈtɛtrəpɒd|
[ad. mod.L. tetrapod-us, ad. Gr. τετράπους, τετραποδ- four-footed, f. τετρα- tetra- + ποῦς (ποδ-) foot. Cf. F. tétrapode.]
A. adj. Having four feet or four limbs; spec. in Entom., belonging to the Tetrapoda, a division of butterflies having only four perfect legs, the anterior pair being unfitted for walking.
B. n.
1. A four-footed animal; one of the Tetrapoda, applied by Credner to all vertebrates higher than fishes; in Entom., a butterfly belonging to the Tetrapoda.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. xlvi. 343 Tetrapod,..an insect having only four perfect legs.
2. (See quot. 1962.)
1962Newsletter Brit. Petroleum Co. Ltd. No. 314. 1 An ingenious type of concrete block will next year be helping to protect the harbour at Das Island off the Arabian coast against storms. Known as Tetrapods, these blocks..may be visualised as a central sphere around which are equally spaced four truncated cone-shaped legs. When a number of Tetrapods are placed in position these legs interlock. 1980Citizen (Ottawa) 3 Dec. 43/1 The tetrapods, which look like children's playing jacks, are designed to break up heavy waves in the event of a hurricane.
Hence tetrapodichnite |-ˈɪknaɪt|, Geol. [ichnite], the fossil footprint of a four-footed beast; tetrapoˈdology, a treatise on quadrupeds; teˈtrapodous a. = sense A. above.
1835–6Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 265/2 No species of Bird ever deviates..from the tetrapodous type of formation. 1844Page Rudim. Geol. §215 (1851) 126 note, Professor Hitchcock adds a third class, tetrapodichnites, or the footsteps of some unknown four-footed animal. 1860Mayne Expos. Lex., Tetrapodologia.., term for a treatise on quadrupeds; tetrapodology. |