1Any of a series of bony or cartilaginous curved bars along the pharynx, supporting the gills of fish and amphibians.
Example sentencesExamples
Originally, it may have been the main upper element of a gill arch.
It is not extant, but it had gill arches, fins, and several other characters indicative of an aquatic lifestyle.
The fifth pair of gill arches is just in front of the pectoral fins.
The buccal cavity is lined with by gill arches, which bear numerous tooth patches.
Inside the fleshy gill arches, used for breathing, lies a system of bony gill arches, which form a finely divided sieve.
1.1Any of the corresponding rudimentary structures in the embryos of higher vertebrates.
Example sentencesExamples
They differ from the earlier vertebrates in that some of the gill arches undergo modification in early development to become the jaw and its supporting structures.
Primitively, then, there was a one-to-one correspondence between aortic arches and gill arches.
This embryonic origin of the gill arches has been thought to be a good argument for their involvement with the jaw, but against their relationship with the limbs.
Definition of gill arch in US English:
gill arch
noun
1Any of a series of bony or cartilaginous curved bars along the pharynx, supporting the gills of fish and amphibians.
Example sentencesExamples
Inside the fleshy gill arches, used for breathing, lies a system of bony gill arches, which form a finely divided sieve.
The fifth pair of gill arches is just in front of the pectoral fins.
The buccal cavity is lined with by gill arches, which bear numerous tooth patches.
Originally, it may have been the main upper element of a gill arch.
It is not extant, but it had gill arches, fins, and several other characters indicative of an aquatic lifestyle.
1.1Any of the corresponding rudimentary structures in the embryos of higher vertebrates.
Example sentencesExamples
Primitively, then, there was a one-to-one correspondence between aortic arches and gill arches.
They differ from the earlier vertebrates in that some of the gill arches undergo modification in early development to become the jaw and its supporting structures.
This embryonic origin of the gill arches has been thought to be a good argument for their involvement with the jaw, but against their relationship with the limbs.