fishapod en · NOUN
Etymology
A blend of fish + tetrapod, Coined by American paleontologist Neil Shubin circa 2006. Analyzable as fish + -a- + -pod
Meanings
-
(informal) Any of several extinct creatures of the subclass Tetrapodomorpha having features both of fish and tetrapods, especially Tiktaalik.
In these conditions, ‘fishapods’, able to do push-ups on proto-limbs to gulp fresh air from just above its river habitat, would have had an edge over those relying only on gills to extract meagre oxygen from the murky water.
2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, Granta Books, published 2013, page 12:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fishapods | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| fishopod | alternative | lexicographic |