Defn: Of or pertaining to the country of the ancient Silures; — a term applied to the earliest of the Paleozoic eras, and also to the strata of the era, because most plainly developed in that country.
Note: The Silurian formation, so named by Murchison, is divided into the Upper Silurian and Lower Silurian. The lower part of the Lower Silurian, with some underlying beds, is now separated under the name Cambrian, first given by Sedwick. Recently the term Ordovician has been proposed for the Lower Silurian, leawing the original word to apply only to the Upper Silurian.
SILURIAN
Si*lu"ri*an, n.
Defn: The Silurian age.
SILURIDAN
Si*lu"ri*dan, n. (Zoöl.)
Defn: Any fish of the family Silurid or of the order Siluroidei.
SILUROID
Si*lu"roid, n. Etym: [Silurus + -oid.] (Zoöl.)
Defn: Belonging to the Siluroidei, or Nematognathi, an order of fishes including numerous species, among which are the American catfishes and numerous allied fresh-water species of the Old World, as the sheatfish (Silurus glanis) of Europe. — n.
Defn: A siluroid fish.
SILUROIDEI
Sil`u*roi"de*i, n. pl. Etym: [NL.] (zoöl.)