ostracod
noun
os·tra·cod
ˈä-strə-ˌkäd 
variants
or less commonly ostracode
: any of a subclass (Ostracoda) of very small aquatic crustaceans that have the body enclosed in a bivalve carapace, the body segmentation obscured, the abdomen rudimentary, and only seven pairs of appendages
Examples of ostracod in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Hong Kong has found many plant and animal fossils, including ostracod and ammonite fossils from about 400 to 190 million years ago, but this is the first time dinosaur fossils have been unearthed in the city, the handout said.
—
Peter Guo, NBC News, 24 Oct. 2024
Most of them appeared to be ostracods, a small crustacean that remains common today (there are 13,000 existing ostracod species).
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 27 Sep. 2023
The creatures behind the eerie Panamanian light show are called ostracods.
—Elizabeth Anne Brown, New York Times, 29 Nov. 2023
So there’s branchiopods, ostracods, copepods, cladocerans...and besides the crustaceans, there’s a lot more.
—Christopher Intagliata, Scientific American, 3 May 2023
The ostracod – and countless other small fossils – cannot be seen adequately using microscopes, however, so their mineral tomb has to be gradually ground away and the fossil recreated with 3-D digital imaging.
—Liam Herringshaw, Discover Magazine, 27 July 2015
Ghoulish in appearance, creatures like this ostracod have thrived for millennia as little more than floating heads.
—Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2016
Discovered in a ditch near the Anglo-Welsh border in the early 2000s, a fossilized ostracod, or seed shrimp, proved to be quite clearly male.
—Liam Herringshaw, Discover Magazine, 27 July 2015
Bioluminescent ostracod crustaceans, like tiny fireflies of the sea, have a gland that makes their bioluminescent goo.
—Quanta Magazine, 16 Aug. 2021
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Peter Guo, NBC News, 24 Oct. 2024
Most of them appeared to be ostracods, a small crustacean that remains common today (there are 13,000 existing ostracod species).
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 27 Sep. 2023
The creatures behind the eerie Panamanian light show are called ostracods.
—Elizabeth Anne Brown, New York Times, 29 Nov. 2023
So there’s branchiopods, ostracods, copepods, cladocerans...and besides the crustaceans, there’s a lot more.
—Christopher Intagliata, Scientific American, 3 May 2023
The ostracod – and countless other small fossils – cannot be seen adequately using microscopes, however, so their mineral tomb has to be gradually ground away and the fossil recreated with 3-D digital imaging.
—Liam Herringshaw, Discover Magazine, 27 July 2015
Ghoulish in appearance, creatures like this ostracod have thrived for millennia as little more than floating heads.
—Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2016
Discovered in a ditch near the Anglo-Welsh border in the early 2000s, a fossilized ostracod, or seed shrimp, proved to be quite clearly male.
—Liam Herringshaw, Discover Magazine, 27 July 2015
Bioluminescent ostracod crustaceans, like tiny fireflies of the sea, have a gland that makes their bioluminescent goo.
—Quanta Magazine, 16 Aug. 2021
Dictionary Entries Near ostracod
Cite this Entry
“Ostracod.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ostracod. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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