belemnite
See also: bélemnite
English
editEtymology
editFrom Ancient Greek βέλεμνον (bélemnon, “dart, arrow”) + -ite.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editbelemnite (plural belemnites)
- (paleontology) Any member of the extinct order †Belemnitida of Mesozoic marine cephalopods, very similar in many ways to the modern squid and closely related to the modern cuttlefish.
- 1895, H. G. Wells, chapter VIII, in The Time Machine:
- In the universal decay this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousands of centuries. It reminded me of a sepia painting I had once seen done from the ink of a fossil Belemnite that must have perished and become fossilized millions of years ago.
- 2017, Danna Staaf, Squid Empire, ForeEdge, →ISBN, page 101:
- The guts of fossilized marine reptiles are packed with belemnites, and it's been theorized that some prehistoric sharks even died from the overconsumption of heavy belemnite shell guards.