caniform

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word caniform. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word caniform, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say caniform in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word caniform you have here. The definition of the word caniform will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofcaniform, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Some caniforms (clockwise from bottom left): South American coati, red panda, Sri Lankan jackal, black bear, striped skunk, yellow-throated marten
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin canis (dog) + -form.

Adjective

caniform (not comparable)

  1. Characteristic of, or relating to the Caniformia.

Noun

caniform (plural caniforms)

  1. Any carnivore of the suborder Caniformia, which are regarded as dog-like.
    • 1997, Peter D. Ward, The Call of Distant Mammoths: Why the Ice Age Mammals Disappeared, page 73:
      Modern carnivores appeared as well, diverging into the feliforms (cats, hyaenas, and mongooses) and caniforms (dogs, bears, raccoons, weasels, and seals).
    • 2011, John P. Rafferty, editor, The Cenozoic Era: Age of Mammals, page 93:
      It is representative of a group of early carnivores, the miacids, that were the ancestors of modern caniforms: the canids (that is, the dogs, coyotes, wolves, foxes, and jackals) and a large group made up of the bear, raccoon, and weasel families.
    • 2013, Donald R. Prothero, Bringing Fossils to Life: An Introduction to Paleobiology, page 544:
      Some paleontologists argue that in fact they[extinct nimravids] are closer to caniforms, while others place them as a distant relative of the feliforms.

Anagrams