Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to the Ostracoda.
  • noun A member of the Ostracoda.

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

  • noun Alternative form of ostracod.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Mg/Ca ratios in ostracode Crustacea shells are influenced by the water temperature in which the shell is secreted and the Mg/Ca ratio in the water.

    Post-1980 Proxies #3: Chesapeake Bay Mg/Ca « Climate Audit 2005

  • Based on diatom-inferred salinity and Mg/Ca ratios in ostracode calcite derived from sediment cores taken at three sites in North Dakota (USA) -- Moon Lake, Coldwater Lake and Rice Lake -- the authors constructed three 2000-year histories of lake-water salinity in order to infer regional patterns of drought.

    New Content on CO2 Science 2010

Comments

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  • A word I encountered in this rather remarkable paragraph:

    "Indeed, the oldest fossil penis is that of an ocean-dwelling ostracode crustacean, Colymbosathon ecplecticos ("amazing swimmer with a large penis"), found in 2003 in the 425-million-year-old rocks in the UK. The 5 mm long ancient creature had been buried in volcanic ash during the Silurian Period and had been well preserved, his soft tissues included, being remarkably similar to some modern ostracodes."

    Seen here. (It's an article, not an image.)

    June 12, 2009

  • Colymbosathon ecplecticos comes from kolymb- "dive" + sath�?n "chap with big penis" (< sathē "penis") + ek-plēkt-ik- "amazing" (< "out" + "strike" + adjectival).

    'Ostracode' itself is ostrak- "potsherd" + -�?id- (later -�?d-) "-like, -appearance".

    June 12, 2009