The primary taxonomic family containing amphioxus species, small filter-feeding marine chordates essential to evolutionary biology.
From 'amphioxus' + Latin '-idae' family suffix. Established formally in 19th-century zoological classification to group morphologically and evolutionarily related organisms.
Amphioxidae species are tiny (usually less than 3 inches) but mighty in importance—they're the 'missing link' that helped biologists prove all vertebrates descended from simple, worm-like ancestors.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.