Describing an organism that possesses gills or respiratory structures on its back or dorsal side, characteristic of certain ancient mollusks and aquatic creatures.
Adjective form of 'dorsibranchia,' combining Latin 'dorsi-' (back) with 'branchiate' (having gills). The '-ate' suffix indicates possession of the described feature.
Finding dorsibranchiate fossils was crucial evidence that mollusk body plans have undergone radical rearrangement—gills migrated from the back to the sides or even inside the body over millions of years!
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