Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A remarkable genus of birds, founded by Marsh (1872) upon remains from the pteranodon beds, of Cretaceous age, in Kansas: so called from the resemblance of the vertebræ to those of fishes.

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

  • noun (Paleon.) An extinct genus of toothed birds found in the American Cretaceous formation. It is remarkable for having biconcave vertebræ, and sharp, conical teeth set in sockets. Its wings were well developed. It is the type of the order Odontotormæ.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Those pterosaurs, though, and the ichthyornis flock ...

    Time Scout Asprin, Robert 1995

  • "The next words out of him were so foul, an ichthyornis took offense, shook out its oil-free, sodden feathers, and flopped over to another bush to finish drying its wings.

    Wagers of Sin Asprin, Robert 1996

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