What's the difference between thecodont and thecodontia?
Thecodont
Definition:
(a.) Having the teeth inserted in sockets in the alveoli of the jaws.
(a.) Of or pertaining to the thecodonts.
(n.) One of the Thecodontia.
Example Sentences:
(1) The greatest variations in tooth attachment have originated in acrodont bony fishes and in pleurodont reptiles, whereas the selection for a single thecodont or socketed type was an important event in the evolution of mammals.
(2) On the basis of the comparative histology of periodontal tissues, protoacrodontal, acrodontal, acro-protothecodontal, pleurodontal and thecodontal structures can be distinguished that depend upon the area of attachment (crestal, marginal or socketed type) and the mode of attachment (ankylosis, fibrous or combined type).
(3) As in the thecodont mammals, the compressive biting (= occlusal) force is transformed into a tensile force by the tooth-fixing apparatus and by the shapes of the jaws and this is sustained by fibrous structures.
Thecodontia
Definition:
(n. pl.) A group of fossil saurians having biconcave vertebrae and the teeth implanted in sockets.