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Pronunciation varies by accent · adjective
concave behind; applied especially to vertebrae in which the anterior end of the centrum is convex and the posterior concave.
Specimen 1912VIII64 was opisthocoelous, pleurocoelous, and caudally wider than tall, as in Epachthosaurus and Pellegrinisaurus (15), and may pertain to Paralititan.
On the basis of the presence of slightly opisthocoelous vertebrae in the Enantiornithes (presumably referring to the anterior dorsals), Kurochkin (3 ) has claimed that the Enantiornithes could not have evolved heterocoelous vertebrae.
The Mesozoic Lepidosteidae, again, have, at most, biconcave vertebrae, while the existing Lepidosteus has Salamandroid, opisthocoelous, vertebrae.
Use opisthocoelous when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Opisthocoelous means concave behind; applied especially to vertebrae in which the anterior end of the centrum is convex and the posterior concave.
Common synonyms include opisthocoelian.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
Specimen 1912VIII64 was opisthocoelous, pleurocoelous, and caudally wider than tall, as in Epachthosaurus and Pellegrinisaurus (15), and may pertain to Paralititan.
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