litoptern

English

Etymology

From modern Latin Litopterna (order name), from Ancient Greek λῑτός (lītós, “smooth”) + πτέρνη (ptérnē, “heel-bone”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /lɪˈtɒptəːn/

Noun

litoptern (plural litopterns)

1. (zoology) An extinct hoofed mammal of the order †Litopterna, from the Cenozoic period. [from 19th c.]
   • 2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 73:

     [C]ertain litopterns like the camel-like Macrauchenia also lived on until within 15,000 years before the present.

Anagrams

• trilepton, tripleton