crocodilian
noun
croc·o·dil·ian
| \ ˌkrä-kə-ˈdi-lē-ən
, -ˈdil-yən\
, -ˈdil-yən\
Definition of crocodilian
: any of an order (Crocodylia) of reptiles including the crocodiles, alligators, caimans, gharials, and related extinct forms
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Examples of crocodilian in a Sentence
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Several researchers suggested that bony plates embedded in the skin, called osteoderms, which are found in crocodilians and some other reptiles, had fused to the underlying bones of the turtle to form a solid bony shell. — Hans-dieter Sues, Smithsonian, "How the Turtle Got Its Shell, With Apologies to Aesop," 20 Aug. 2019 As such, the teeth of the almost entirely carnivorous crocodilians alive today are usually rather simple, Melstrom explains, but some of the extinct species had teeth with up to 20 separate surfaces. — National Geographic, "Plant-eating crocodiles thrived in dinosaur times," 27 June 2019 Both beasts are part of the group crocodilians, the largest living reptiles. — Tiffini Theisen, orlandosentinel.com, "Photo shows crocodile eating leg of romantic rival after killing him in Florida Everglades," 5 Aug. 2019 This lack of testing made sense, because living crocodilians have no complex tooth morphologies to analyse—so why bother? — The Economist, "Vegetarian crocodiles once roamed the world," 28 June 2019 This has left the topic of what ancient crocodilians ate very much up for grabs. — The Economist, "Vegetarian crocodiles once roamed the world," 28 June 2019 None other than the crocodilian, water-sprouting Totodile. — Gabe Bergado, Teen Vogue, ""Pokémon Detective Pikachu" Star Justice Smith on the Power of Representation, Fans Dressing Up as Tim Goodman, and Sequel Ideas," 17 May 2019 By comparing the small bones that stabilize the tongue from dinosaur fossils to those of modern birds and crocodilians, researchers found that most dinosaurs, including the Tyrannosaurus Rex, wouldn’t have been able to move their tongues very much. — National Geographic, "Why T. Rex Couldn't Waggle Its Tongue," 20 June 2018 However, most extinct dinosaurs have hyoid structures that are more like those of crocodilians—a simple pair of short rods. — Mindy Weisberger, Scientific American, "T. Rex Couldn’t Stick Out Its Tongue," 24 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crocodilian.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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