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Glite Dictionary
🐗 Aardvark-like mammal 🦷 With tube-like teeth
tubulidentate

tubulidentate

1 9.9
A mammal with teeth made of many thin tubes, like an aardvark
  • noun
  • /ˌtjuːbjuːlaɪˈdɛnteɪt/
  • Specialized
: tubulidentado
  • An aardvark is the only living species classified as a tubulidentate today.

Examples

  • The fossilized remains were identified as those of a prehistoric tubulidentate.

  • Researchers study the teeth structure of the tubulidentate to understand its diet and evolution.

  • The tubulidentate species, like the aardvark, has unique teeth.

  • A tubulidentate can consume a variety of insects.

  • The aardvark is a well-known example of a tubulidentate mammal due to its distinctive tubular teeth.

  • Scientists study tubulidentate mammals like the aardvark to understand their unique feeding habits.

  • The tubulidentate order includes fascinating animals that are adapted to a diet of insects.

Synonyms

aardvark
vstubulidentate
  • South African
10 7.4

A large African animal that is active at night, digs burrows, and eats ants and termites

is the scientific name for the mammal's taxonomic order rather than the common name

Surface Forms

tubulidentate singular
tubulidentates plural

Morphology

tubulidentate = dentate (opaque) = tubuli + dent + ate

The term is a technical Latin-based formation whose 'tubuli-' element and specialized taxonomic use are unlikely to be transparent to an average learner.

Etymology

Tubulidentate as a noun uses the same parts tubuli- ('tube') and dentate ('toothed'), so the name means an animal with tube-like teeth. That's why the word is used for animals such as the aardvark that have this unusual tooth shape.