sb. and a. Zool. [a. F. urodèle, usu. pl. urodèles (Duméril), or ad. mod.L. Urodēla, neuter pl. of *ūrodēlus, f. Gr. οὐρ-ά URO-2 + δῆλος evident.]
A. sb. A member of the order Urodela of amphibians, in which the larval tail persists in adult life; a Urodelan.
1842. Brande, Dict. Sci., etc., 1278. Urodeles, Urodelæ,… that tribe of Caducibranchiate Batracian reptiles which preserve the tail through all stages of their existence.
c. 1850. Todd’s Cycl. Anat., IV. II. 1254. The amphibious Urodeles.
1874. Mivart, Common Frog, 42. The largest existing Urodele—the gigantic Salamander (Cryptobranchus)—is found in Japan, where it attains a length of 5 or 6 feet.
B. adj. Belonging to the Urodela (see prec.).
1874. Mivart, Common Frog, 49. The world’s surface may be divided according to its Urodele population into three regions.
1875. Huxley, in Encycl. Brit., I. 762/1. No urodele amphibian has more than four digits in the manus.
Hence Urodelous a., pertaining to, having the characteristics of, the Urodela.
c. 1844. Todd’s Cycl. Anat., III. 448/2. The urodelous kinds of Caducibranchiates.
1861. R. E. Grant, Tabular View Rec. Zool., 14. Noctilionida…. With distinct tail (urodelous).
1881. A. S. Packard, Zool., 479. A step higher in the Urodelous scale is the Menopoma.
