Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Characterized by or used for climbing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Habitually climbing, as a bird; pertaining to climbing: as, scansorial actions or habits; fitted or serving for climbing: as, scansorial feet; the scansorial tail of a woodpecker. Also scandent.
  • Belonging to the Scansores.
  • noun A member of the Scansores; a zygodactyl.
  • Pertaining to the scansorius.
  • noun The scansorius.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Capable of climbing; ; adapted for climbing.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the Scansores. See Illust. under aves.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) a tail in which the feathers are stiff and sharp at the tip, as in the woodpeckers.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective zoology Adapted or to specialise in climbing.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin scānsōrius, from scānsus, past participle of scandere, to climb; see skand- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin scansarius, from scansus, past participle of scandere, to climb; see skand- in Indo-European roots.

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Examples

  • Dimorphodon was a insectivorous flapper who may have been scansorial hat-tip to Mark Witton and his wonderful blog.

    Life's Time Capsule: Pterosaur Gallery Weapon of Mass Imagination 2009

  • Dimorphodon was a insectivorous flapper who may have been scansorial hat-tip to Mark Witton and his wonderful blog.

    Archive 2009-07-01 Weapon of Mass Imagination 2009

  • The current data from theropods shows that quill-like integumentary structures were present in theropods before one lineage gave rise to scansorial proto-birds.

    Literally, flying lemurs (and not dermopterans) Darren Naish 2006

  • The current data from theropods shows that quill-like integumentary structures were present in theropods before one lineage gave rise to scansorial proto-birds.

    Archive 2006-09-01 Darren Naish 2006

  • Agamines are a really interesting group in terms of adaptation: we have scansorial, arenicolous and saxicolous species, the evolution of viviparity, and morphological transitions such as external ear loss.

    Harduns and toad-heads; a tale of arenicoly and over-looked convergence Darren Naish 2006

  • Agamines are a really interesting group in terms of adaptation: we have scansorial, arenicolous and saxicolous species, the evolution of viviparity, and morphological transitions such as external ear loss.

    Archive 2006-12-01 Darren Naish 2006

  • In a future where all megafauna is extinct and where technologically advanced humans are highly skilled at genetic engineering, future people 500 years hence genetically create ungulate-like grassland people, cold-weather tundra people, scansorial forest and woodland people, and gilled, seal-like aquatic people (Dixon 1990).

    Archive 2006-10-01 Darren Naish 2006

  • Judging by its limb bone morphology and the places where its remains are found, M. inexpectatus was a terrestrial form and it has even been suggested that it might have been scansorial: that is, able to climb trees.

    The small, recently extinct, island-dwelling crocodilians of the south Pacific Darren Naish 2006

  • Nor have I discussed the little nyctitheres, a poorly known and long-mysterious Eocene-Oligocene group that appear to have been primitive, scansorial relatives of euarchontans.

    We flightless primates Darren Naish 2006

  • Judging by its limb bone morphology and the places where its remains are found, M. inexpectatus was a terrestrial form and it has even been suggested that it might have been scansorial: that is, able to climb trees.

    Archive 2006-09-01 Darren Naish 2006

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