Relating to or characterized by doubled vertebral structures or cavities, particularly in describing the skeletal anatomy of certain ancient fish and reptiles.
From diplospondyli with the suffix -ic. This adjective form allows description of species or specimens exhibiting the diplospondylic vertebral condition.
When paleontologists find a diplospondylic fossil fish spine, they're looking at evidence of an evolutionary experiment—nature tried doubling the vertebral cavities, and while it worked great for that time period, the single-chambered vertebrae we see in modern fish proved equally successful in the long run!
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