Silurian
[sai'ljuəriən;si-]
Definition
(noun.) from 425 million to 405 million years ago; first air-breathing animals.
Inputed by Abner--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Of or pertaining to the country of the ancient Silures; -- a term applied to the earliest of the Paleozoic eras, and also to the strata of the era, because most plainly developed in that country.
(n.) The Silurian age.
Typed by Jolin
Definition
adj. belonging to Siluria the country of the Silures the ancient inhabitants of the south-eastern part of South Wales: applied by Murchison in 1835 to a series of rocks well developed in the country of the Silures a subdivision of the Pal鎜zoic containing hardly any vertebrates and land plants.—adjs. Silū′ridan Silū′rine Silū′roid.—ns. Silū′rist a Silurian a name applied to the poet Henry Vaughan (1621-95); Silū′rus Silūre′ the typical genus of Silurid a family of physostomous fishes—the cat-fishes &c.
Checked by Bernie
Examples
- There are three great series of strata beneath the Silurian system in Canada, in the lowest of which the Eozoon is found. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Murchison at their head, were until recently convinced that we beheld in the organic remains of the lowest Silurian stratum the first dawn of life. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- We will suppose the letters A to L to represent allied genera existing during the Silurian epoch, and descended from some still earlier form. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Editor: Pratt