376 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



Articulate. Jointed. 



Artiodactyle. Even-toed, of ungulates. 



Ascidians. Vety primitive chordate animals. 



Atrophy. The state of being undeveloped. 



Attenuate. Long and slender and drawn to a point. 



Auburn. Dark reddish brown. 



Auricle. One of the chambers of the heart. 



Azygos plate. A plate just back of the rostral plate on the head of some snakes. 



Balanoglossus. A very primitive chordate animal. 



Barbel. A long, slender projection on the head of certain fishes and turtles. 



Basal. At or near the base. 



Bicolor. Two-colored. 



Bicuspid. Having two terminal points. 



Bifid. Forked. 



Bilateral symmetry. Having the right and left sides alike. 



Bister. A dark brown color. 



Branchial. Pertaining to the gills. 



Branchiostegals. The bony rays which support the branchiostegal membrane on the 

 under side of the head of a fish. 



Buccal. Pertaining to the mouth. 



Buccal funnel. The depressed plate with the mouth in its center at the front end of a 

 lamprey. 



Caducous. Shedding or falling off early. 



Cascimi. A sac-Hke appendage of the digestive tract; a blind-gut. 



Canine teeth. Elongate, conical teeth; in mammals those next to the incisors. 



Carapace. The upper shell of a turtle; the shell of an armadillo. 



Carinate. Keeled; with a median ridge. 



Camassial teeth. The flesh-cutting teeth of a carnivorous mammal. 



Carnivorous. Flesh-eating. 



Carpal bones. The wrist bones. 



Carpus. The wrist. 



Caudal. Pertaining to the tail. 



Caudal fin. The tail fin of fishes. 



Caudal peduncle. The slender body region just in front of the caudal fin in fishes. 



Cavernous. Containing cavities. 



Cervical. Pertaining to the neck. 



Cheek. The part of a fish's head beneath and biehind the eye. 



Chordate. Pertaining to animals belonging to the Phylum Chordata, being those animals 

 possessing a notochord, such as vertebrates, ascidians, etc. 



Cinereous. Ashen; light gray. 



Cinnamon. Intense dark brown. 



Cirri. Filamentous, sensory appendages. 



Clavicle. The collar bone, the ventral, anterior portion of the shoulder girdle. 



Cloaca. The tubular organ receiving the discharges of the digestive, urinary and repro- 

 ductive systems, in certain vertebrates. 



Cochlea. A portion of the inner ear in mammals which is spiral in shape. 



Compressed. Flattened laterally. 



Condyle. A bony projection which is an articulating surface. 



Coracoid. The ventral, posterior portion of the shoulder girdle in the land vertebrates; 

 the principal bone of the shoulder girdle in fishes. 



Costal folds. Vertical folds of the skin in salamanders which show the number of the 

 muscle segments. 



Costal grooves. The vertical grooves between the costal folds. 



