What does anurous mean?
Anurous is a technical adjective meaning tailless — describing an animal that naturally has no tail. It derives from Greek roots: 'an-' (without) combined with 'oura' (tail), making it a precise zoological descriptor rather than an everyday word. Its most familiar application is to adult frogs and toads, which belong to the order Anura ('tailless ones') because they lose their tadpole tails during metamorphosis; indeed, the order's very name is built from the same roots. The word appears mainly in scientific literature, field guides, and anatomical descriptions, where it distinguishes tailless species from their tailed relatives. Its antonyms include 'tailed', 'caudate', and 'caudal'. While rarely encountered outside specialist writing, anurous is a useful example of how classical Greek morphology gives English exact, compact terms for biological traits, and it pairs closely with related coinages such as 'anuran'.
adjectiveHaving no tail; tailless. The term is used chiefly in zoology to describe animals that naturally lack a tail.
- (zoology) Having no tail; tailless.
"The anurous frog perched motionless on the lily pad, its body rounded and tailless."
"Adult frogs are anurous, having absorbed their tadpole tails during metamorphosis."
"The specimen was catalogued as anurous, distinguishing it from its tailed relatives."
Frogs are the most famous anurous animals — the word literally describes what makes a frog a frog: no tail at all.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of anurous
Anurous comes from the Greek 'an-' (without) plus 'oura' (tail), passing into scientific Latin before entering English as a technical zoological term. It shares its root with 'anuran', the adjective and noun relating to frogs and toads, whose order name Anura uses the identical Greek elements. Other cognates built on 'oura' include 'urodele' (tailed amphibians such as salamanders) and 'urostyle' (a fused tail structure in frogs).
How anurous is actually used
A technical term used almost exclusively in zoological and scientific contexts; rare in everyday speech. It carries no particular connotation beyond its literal descriptive meaning.
Easily confused with anurous
Anuric means producing no urine (a medical condition), whereas anurous means having no tail.