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Webster 1913 Edition
Leptocardia
‖
Lepˊto-car′di-a
(lĕpˊtō̍-kär′dĭ-ȧ)
, Noun.
pl.
[NL., fr. Gr.
λεπτόσ
small + καρδία
the heart.] (Zool.)
The lowest class of Vertebrata, including only the Amphioxus. The heart is represented only by a simple pulsating vessel. The blood is colorless; the brain, renal organs, and limbs are wanting, and the backbone is represented only by a simple, unsegmented notochord. See
Amphioxus
. [Written also
Leptocardii
.]