madreporite
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From madrepore + -ite; the echinoderm sense is in reference to how it resembles the coral.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
madreporite (plural madreporites)
- (zoology) A calcareous opening in the body of echinoderms which connects the water vascular system to the environment.
- (archaic, paleontology) A fossil stony coral, or a deposit composed of the same.
- 1839, Report of the progress of the Geological Survey for the year 1839[1]:
- a similar Madreporite deposite is noticed a few feet above the coal seam
- 1943, “Publications of the Folklore Society (Great Britain)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 138:
- Whether madreporite occurs naturally in Spain, I do not know
- 1989, Society for the Bibliography of Natural History (Great Britain), Archives of Natural History, page 199:
- Madreporite was regarded as a variety of calcite and anthraconite a lamellar variety of madreporite
References[edit]
- “madreporite”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.