sciuroid

noun

1. Any rodent from the family Sciuridae.

   “The loss of the internal carotid artery in the sciuroids seems likewise to go back to the early Tertiary. The oldest known sciuroid, Protosciurus (table XII) , stems from the Middle Oligocene [BLACK, 1963) , and the earliest sciuroids presumably evolved from central members of the paramyid group around the transition between the Eocene and Oligocene [WOOD, 1959].”

   “It may also be noted that the fossil record stretches back no farther than the Oligocene on macroscelidoid elephant shrews (Patterson, 1965), also on sciuroids (Black, 1963), and no farther than the Miocene on lorisoids (Walker, 1974) .”

   “These findings are contrary to the opinion that sciuroids are relatively archaic forms, based on their cuspidate dentition.”

adj

1. Of or pertaining to the taxonomic family Sciuridae.

   “The feet are very sciuroid, and while they are the most generalized rodent feet, they show the distinctive characteristics of the order already firmly fixed, in the peculiar reduction of the pollex, presence of radial sesamoid, characteristic form of astragalus etc.”

   “A sciuroid rodent to farmers well known— He is rather destructive to crops— Is apposite, novel and ready to hand As arms of the "Issue of Ops"”

   “In studying the early development of the sciuroid rodent Citellus the writer noted the following described conditions which may be of interest to investigators working on that yet unsolved problem of the origin of the vascular system.”

   “In overall habitus, Maiopatagium is most comparable with the sciuroid gliding rodents with similar proportions of the propatagium, plagiopatagium, and uropatagium (Fig. 6.25).”

2. Resembling the tail of a squirrel, as branches which are close and dense, or spikes of grass like barley.

   “Tufts large, very laxly cohering, nearly without rhizoids, silky or yellowish green, fainly shining; stem elongate, irregularly divided or prolonged into sciuroid-curved obtuse branches; leaves loosely imbricate, crowded, when dry sub-rugose , when moist patent, short decurrent, indistinctly auriculate, faintly plicate, from concave ovate and gradually acuminate base long cuspidate;”

   “Plants dioceious, in habit comparable to Breutelia, Primary stem creeping, naked, secondary stems arcuate, sciuroid, simple, branching or producing stolons.”