opisthocoelousadj.
/ə(ʊ)ˌpɪsθəˈsiːləs/, U.S. /əˌpɪsθoʊˈsiləs/ Zoology.
Designating or relating to vertebrae whose centra are concave posteriorly. Also: having such vertebrae. Cf. amphicœlous adj., procoelous adj.
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the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > spine > [adjective] > vertebra of > types of
procoelian1842
opisthocoelian1854
platycoelian1854
procoelous1862
anticlinal1870
opisthocoelous1872
monospondylic1884
1872 H. A. Nicholson Man. Palæontol. 308 In the Bony Pike, the vertebral column is composed of opisthocœlous vertebræ.
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 340 The vertebral centrum may be biconcave (amphicoelous), biconvex, concave in front or behind (= pro- and opistho-coelous), or flat.
1933 H. F. Gadow Evol. Vertebral Column xxxv. 311 The embryonic vertebrae of all Birds are at first amphicoelous, then they change through opisthocoelous into the heterocoelous or saddle-shaped type.
1961 J. Stubblefield Davies's Introd. Palaeontol. (ed. 3) vi. 153 In the higher reptiles the [amphicoelous] form changes, either to procoelous (concave in front, protuberant behind) as in Crocodiles, or opisthocoelous (reverse of procoelous).
1988 Zool. Jrnl. Linn. Soc. 94 4 Nicholls..had included the opisthocoelous Pipidae in the Aglossa, apart from all other tongued anurans.
2002 Jrnl. Paleontol. 76 156 The elongate opisthocoelous cervical vertebrae have non-bifid posteriorly deflected neural spines with deep postspinal fossae.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1872