desmodont

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δεσμός (desmós, “band, connection”) + ὀδών (odṓn, “tooth”).

Noun

desmodont (plural desmodonts)

1. (zoology) Any of a group of South American blood-sucking bats of the genera Desmodus and Diphylla.

Adjective

desmodont (not comparable)

1. (zoology) Of hinge teeth: having a large ligamentous resilifer (or chondrophore) which replaces the cardinal teeth.

   Synonym: asthenodont

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “desmodont”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)