miacid

English

Etymology

From scientific Latin Miacidae (family name), from Miacis (genus name), of uncertain origin.

Noun

miacid (plural miacids)

1. (paleontology) Any member of the Miacidae family of extinct mammals. [from 20th c.]
   • 1971, Thomas H. V. Rich, Deltatheridia, Carnivora, and Condylarthra (Mammalia) of the Early Eocene, Paris Basin, France:

     The trenchant talonid is a character of some miacids and distinguishes these teeth from the hyaenodontids and oxyaenids.

   • 2016 November 26, Elsa Panciroli, “Rifling through the 'wastebaskets' of palaeontology reveals surprises”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Miacids were long-bodied, had long tails, were pine marten sized or smaller, and some lived in trees while others spent their time on the ground.

Anagrams

• amidic