lancelet

Thân thiện

A lancelet burrows into the sandy seabed.

Definition

Noun: 1. A small, translucent, lancet-shaped burrowing marine animal; a primitive forerunner of the vertebrates: A lancelet is a small, fish-like, filter-feeding chordate that lives buried in sand in shallow seas. It lacks a true backbone but possesses a notochord, making it an important organism for studying the evolution of vertebrates.

Examples of Usage

• Scientists study the lancelet to understand early chordate evolution.
• The lancelet, also known as amphioxus, is often found in coastal sands.
• Its simple body plan makes the lancelet a key model organism in biology.

Advanced Usage

• In evolutionary biology: The term is used to denote a living representative of the subphylum Cephalochordata, which shares common ancestry with vertebrates.
  • The genome of the lancelet provides clues about the genetic toolkit of early vertebrates.

Variants and Related Words

• Amphioxus (n): Another common name for a lancelet, used especially in scientific contexts.
  • The genus Branchiostoma is commonly called amphioxus.

Synonyms

• Amphioxus: A direct synonym.
• Cephalochordate: The formal taxonomic group name.

Notes on Different Meanings

The word "lancelet" has a very specific, single meaning in modern English, referring exclusively to this type of marine chordate. It is not commonly used in other contexts.

Học thuật

Noun

1. small translucent lancet-shaped burrowing marine animal; primitive forerunner of the vertebrates

Từ đồng nghĩa

• amphioxus