Pteridomania
(Pter`i*do*ma"ni*a) n. [Gr. a fern + E. mania.] A madness, craze, or strong fancy, for
ferns. [R.] C. Kingsley.
Pteridophyta
(||Pter`i*doph"y*ta) n. pl. [NL., from Gr. a fern + a plant.] (Bot.) A class of flowerless
plants, embracing ferns, horsetails, club mosses, quillworts, and other like plants. See the Note under
Cryptogamia. — Pter"i*do*phyte` n.
This is a modern term, devised to replace the older ones acrogens and vascular Cryptogamia.
Pterobranchia
(||Pter`o*bran"chi*a) n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. a wing + .] (Zoöl.) An order of marine Bryozoa,
having a bilobed lophophore and an axial cord. The genus Rhabdopleura is the type. Called also Podostomata.
See Rhabdopleura.
Pteroceras
(||Pte*roc"e*ras) n. [NL., fr. Gr. a wing + a horn.] (Zoöl.) A genus of large marine gastropods
having the outer border of the lip divided into lobes; — called also scorpion shell.
Pterocletes
(||Pter`o*cle"tes) n. pl. [NL., fr Pterocles, the typical genus, fr. Gr. feather + a key, tongue
of a clasp.] (Zoöl.) A division of birds including the sand grouse. They are in some respects intermediate
between the pigeons and true grouse. Called also Pteroclomorphæ.
Pterodactyl
(Pter`o*dac"tyl) n. [Gr. a wing + finger, toe: cf. F. ptérodactyle.] (Paleon.) An extinct flying
reptile; one of the Pterosauria. See Illustration in Appendix.
Pterodactyli
(||Pter`o*dac"ty*li) n. pl. [NL.] (Paleon.) Same as Pterosauria.
Pteroglossal
(Pter`o*glos"sal) a. [Gr. a feather + tongue.] (Zoöl.) Having the tongue finely notched
along the sides, so as to have a featherlike appearance, as the toucans.
Pteron
(Pte"ron) n. [NL., fr. Gr. a wing.] (Anat.) The region of the skull, in the temporal fossa back of
the orbit, where the great wing of the sphenoid, the temporal, the parietal, and the frontal hones approach
each other.
Pteropappi
(||Pter`o*pap"pi) n. pl. [NL., from Gr. a feather, a bird + a grandfather.] (Zool.) Same as
Odontotormæ.
Pterophore
(Pter"o*phore) n. [Gr. a feather + to bear.] (Zoöl.) Any moth of the genus Pterophorus and
allied genera; a plume moth. See Plume moth, under Plume.
Pteropod
(Pter"o*pod) n. [Gr. wing-footed; a feather, wing + foot: cf. F. ptéropode.] (Zoöl.) One of the
Pteropoda.
Pteropoda
(||Pte*rop"o*da) n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) A class of Mollusca in which the anterior lobes of the foot
are developed in the form of broad, thin, winglike organs, with which they swim at near the surface of
the sea.
The Pteropoda are divided into two orders: Cymnosomata, which have the body entirely naked and
the head distinct from the wings; and Thecosomata, which have a delicate transparent shell of various
forms, and the head not distinct from the wings.
Pteropodous
(Pte*rop"o*dous) a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Pteropoda.
Pterosaur
(Pter"o*saur) n. [Gr. wind + a lizard.] (Paleon.) A pterodactyl.
Pterosauria
(||Pter`o*sau"ri*a) n. pl. [NL.] (Paleon.) An extinct order of flying reptiles of the Mesozoic
age; the pterodactyls; — called also Pterodactyli, and Ornithosauria.
