Urodela

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An order of amphibians that keep a tail throughout life, including newts and salamanders of many kinds
2. The group of tailed amphibians whose members include salamanders and newts found across the northern world
3. A zoological order of tailed amphibians, distinguished from frogs and toads by retaining a tail as adults

Etymology: Urodela is the scientific name for the order that includes salamanders and newts, and it was coined in the 19th century from Greek roots rather than used by the ancients. It combines "oura", meaning "tail", with "delos", meaning "visible" or "evident", so the name refers to the tail that these amphibians keep as adults, in contrast to frogs and toads, which lose theirs after metamorphosis. The Greek element "-delos" is a sign of the word's technical origin, as it appears in other scientific compounds meaning "clearly showing" a feature. The term belongs to the same scientific tradition that produced the names of other amphibian orders. Its counterpart, Anura, joins Greek "an-", meaning "without", to "oura", so the frogs and toads are literally "tailless." Taxonomists built the pair as a matched set, one defined by a tail and the other by its absence.

Synonyms: caudata