rhamphorhynchoid
/ˌramfə(ʊ)ˈrɪŋkɔɪd/Palaeontology
adjective
Of or relating to the suborder or superfamily Rhamphorhynchoidea of pterosaurs of the late Triassic and the Jurassic, characterized by small size and a long tail stiffened with ligaments.
- The suborder is now seldom used as a formal taxon as it is paraphyletic and represents relatively unspecialized basal forms..
noun
A rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.
Origin
Late 19th century; earliest use found in Isaac Funk (1839–1912), publisher and reformer. From Rhamphorhynchus + -oid, after scientific Latin Rhamphorhynchoidea, group name.