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Meaning of AMPHIOXUS

Pronunciation:  `amfee'âksus

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WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: [n]  small translucent lancet-shaped burrowing marine animal; primitive forerunner of the vertebrates
 
 Synonyms: lancelet
 
 See Also: cephalochordate, genus Amphioxus

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
\Am`phi*ox"us\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? + ? sharp.]
(Zo["o]l.)
A fishlike creature ({Amphioxus lanceolatus}), two or three
inches long, found in temperature seas; -- also called the
{lancelet}. Its body is pointed at both ends. It is the
lowest and most generalized of the vertebrates, having
neither brain, skull, vertebr[ae], nor red blood. It forms
the type of the group {Acrania}, {Leptocardia}, etc.
 



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