squamate

noun

squa·​mate ˈskwā-ˌmāt 

ˈskwä-

: any of an order (Squamata) of reptiles including the snakes and lizards and related extinct forms

squamate adjective

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Megachirella's detailed features weren't completely discernible, and scientists didn't have a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary timeline for squamates. —Sarah Gibbens, National Geographic, 31 May 2018

But the previous oldest squamate fossil discovered was only about 180 million years old. —Laura Yan, Popular Mechanics, 3 June 2018

Despite occupying so much of the Earth, scientists have found gaps in its understanding of squamate lineage. —Laura Yan, Popular Mechanics, 3 June 2018

But, as Nicola Davis reports at The Guardian, a new study suggests that squamates actually evolved before The Great Dying and powered through this cataclysmic period. —Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 1 June 2018

Genetic evidence suggests that squamates evolved in the Permian period, over 250 million years ago. —Laura Yan, Popular Mechanics, 3 June 2018

The team also spent 400 days examining 150 specimens of other lizard-like creatures held in fossil collections around the world, and constructed the most detailed DNA family tree of living squamates. —Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 1 June 2018

Lead study author Tiago Simões spent more than four years piecing together the squamate lineage. —Sarah Gibbens, National Geographic, 31 May 2018

Squamates are snakes and lizards, and Archaeopteryx is the famous feathered fossil from Germany that represents one of the best known evolutionary links between dinosaurs and birds. —Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 2 Nov. 2016

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Word History

Etymology

ultimately from Late Latin squamatus scaly, from Latin squama

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above