| 释义 |
cryptozoic, a.|krɪptəʊˈzəʊɪk|
[f. crypto- + Gr. ζωή life + -ic.]
1. Biol. Defining a class of fauna composed of animals living a concealed or hidden life (see quots.); also, belonging to this class.
1895A. Dendy in Rep. 6th Meeting Austral. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 99 The Cryptozoic Fauna of Australasia... I use the word ‘Cryptozoic’ for want of a better. 1897Parker & Haswell Zool. II. xiv. 601 Cryptozoic forms, which live under stones, logs of wood, etc., such as Land-Planarians, Peripatus, Centipedes, and Woodlice. 1953R. F. Lawrence Biol. Cryptic Fauna of Forests ii. 32 Certain examples of cryptozoic forms may take advantage of the shelter provided by human habitations.
2. Geol. (Usu. with capital initial.) A name given to the Pre-Cambrian era, now esp. when this is contrasted with the whole of the later part of geological history, from the beginning of the Cambrian to the present day; of or pertaining to the Pre-Cambrian era. Cf. Phanerozoic a.
1911Encycl. Brit. XXII. 266/2 The name pre-Cambrian is the equivalent of the ‘Algonkian’..; the terms..cryptozoic, eparchaic and others have also been applied to the same period. 1930G. H. Chadwick in Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XLI. 48 Cryptozoic or Cryptobiotic (Precambrian). 1958R. C. Moore Introd. Hist. Geol. (ed. 2) iv. 59 The first major division of earth history determinable from rocks exposed at the surface is the Cryptozoic Eon. Ibid., It is convenient also to designate the Cryptozoic rocks as Precambrian. 1968Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 19 Nov. 26/8 The Cryptozoic (‘hidden life’) extends a further 3,000 million years—and yet its rocks show almost no traces of life! 1969Dunbar & Waage Hist. Geol. (ed. 3) vii. 164/1 In rocks so generally devoid of fossils what little indication we have of Cryptozoic environments and climates is derived from the sediments. |