sb. pl. Zool. [mod. L., f. testa shell + cardo (cardin-) hinge.] A primary division of brachiopods, having hinged shells; opposed to Ecardines. Hence Testicardine a. rare, Testicardinate a., having a hinged shell.
1878. Bell, Gegenbaur’s Comp. Anat., 308. In the Testicardines it is short and largely chitinised.
1888. Rolleston & Jackson, Anim. Life, 693. In the hinged Brachiopoda or Testicardines the dorsal valve is furnished with a projecting cardinal process to which are attached the divaricator muscles.
1895. Cambr. Nat. Hist., III. xvii. 467. On the inner surface of the shell of the Testicardinate Brachiopoda … are two lateral teeth.
