litho do me

[LITHO DOM US.] Zool.: Any member of the genus Litho dom us (q. v.). 11-thod-o-mous, a . [LITHO DOM US.] 1. Living in stone, a term applied to bivalve shells itants penetrated by means of which we are ignofound in stone more or le hard, which theirinhab rant. ( Mayne.) 2. Belonging to, or in any manner characteristic of the genus Litho dom us (q. v.). 11-thod-o-mus ( pl . 11-thod-o-mi), s . [Greek lithos stone, and domos =a habitation. So called because the animals make perforations in rocks, in which they live.] Zool. & Palæont.: Date-shells. A sub-genus of Modiola, distinguished by theu long, cylindrical, anteriorly-inflated shell, and by the habit from which they derive their name. Known recent species forty, from West Indies to New Zealand; fo il thirty-five. Lithodomi have the power of excavating holes in the hardest limestones. Holes formed by Lithodomi are found in inland cliffs, proving that they were at one time covered by the sea. They appear to date from the Carboniferous rocks, and are known to paleontologists by their shells and their burrows.