pelvic fin
noun
: one of the paired fins of a fish that are homologous with the hind limbs of a quadruped
Examples of pelvic fin in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This species has a distinctive appearance with smooth, scaleless skin and long, filamentous pectoral and pelvic fins that resemble limbs more than typical fins.
—
Scott Travers, Forbes, 15 Sep. 2024
Its appearance is somewhat prehistoric, with a broad, flattened head and large, paddle-like pectoral and pelvic fins that give it a somewhat awkward but distinctive swimming style.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 15 Sep. 2024
The pectoral and pelvic fins on male fish are slightly larger than the female fins, and the base of the anal-fin is straight in females but convex in males, researchers said.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 22 May 2024
Some scans revealed that Tiktaalik had unexpectedly massive hips (more like Thicctaalik) and a surprisingly big pelvic fin.
—New York Times, 29 Apr. 2022
The three-foot-long creatures live near Australia, moving their pectoral fins in the front and pelvic fins in the back to plod along, writes Nat Geo’s Douglas Main.
—National Geographic, 30 Jan. 2020
These three-foot-long creatures live near Australia, and, as their name implies, move their pectoral fins in the front and pelvic fins in the back to plod along the seafloor—or even atop coral reefs, outside the water, at low tide.
—National Geographic, 23 Jan. 2020
One possible explanation was that the marine sticklebacks had already carried a rare mutation for the loss of the pelvic fin, one that arose in their ancestors.
—Quanta Magazine, 5 Feb. 2019
Adding and subtracting repeats would then have been an easy way to fine-tune the expression of the genes involved in pelvic fin development.
—Quanta Magazine, 5 Feb. 2019
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Scott Travers, Forbes, 15 Sep. 2024
Its appearance is somewhat prehistoric, with a broad, flattened head and large, paddle-like pectoral and pelvic fins that give it a somewhat awkward but distinctive swimming style.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 15 Sep. 2024
The pectoral and pelvic fins on male fish are slightly larger than the female fins, and the base of the anal-fin is straight in females but convex in males, researchers said.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 22 May 2024
Some scans revealed that Tiktaalik had unexpectedly massive hips (more like Thicctaalik) and a surprisingly big pelvic fin.
—New York Times, 29 Apr. 2022
The three-foot-long creatures live near Australia, moving their pectoral fins in the front and pelvic fins in the back to plod along, writes Nat Geo’s Douglas Main.
—National Geographic, 30 Jan. 2020
These three-foot-long creatures live near Australia, and, as their name implies, move their pectoral fins in the front and pelvic fins in the back to plod along the seafloor—or even atop coral reefs, outside the water, at low tide.
—National Geographic, 23 Jan. 2020
One possible explanation was that the marine sticklebacks had already carried a rare mutation for the loss of the pelvic fin, one that arose in their ancestors.
—Quanta Magazine, 5 Feb. 2019
Adding and subtracting repeats would then have been an easy way to fine-tune the expression of the genes involved in pelvic fin development.
—Quanta Magazine, 5 Feb. 2019
Dictionary Entries Near pelvic fin
Cite this Entry
“Pelvic fin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pelvic%20fin. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share