Meanings
- not comparableconcave behind; applied especially to vertebrae in which the anterior end of the centrum is convex and the posterior concave
The Mesozoic Lepidosteidae, again, have, at most, biconcave vertebrae, while the existing Lepidosteus has Salamandroid, opisthocoelous, vertebrae.
1870, Thomas Henry Huxley, Lay Sermons, Addresses and Reviews2 more examples
Specimen 1912VIII64 was opisthocoelous, pleurocoelous, and caudally wider than tall, as in Epachthosaurus and Pellegrinisaurus (15), and may pertain to Paralititan.
2001 June 1, Joshua B. Smith et al., “A Giant Sauropod Dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous Mangrove Deposit in Egypt”, in Science, volume 292, number 5522, →DOI, pages 1704–1706On 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.
1997 June 6, Jose L. Sanz et al., “A Nestling Bird from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain: Implications for Avian Skull and Neck Evolution”, in Science, volume 276, number 5318, →DOI, pages 1543–1546Synonyms: opisthocoelian
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveconcave behind; applied especially to vertebrae in which the anterior end of the centrum is convex and the posterior concave
Origin
From opistho- + -coelous (“concave”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
opisthocoelous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opisthocoelous
“opisthocoelous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opisthocoelous. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “opisthocoelous,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opisthocoelous.
Source: opisthocoelous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.