Palæont. [mod. L., f. Gr. χείρ hand + θηρίον beast.] A large extinct four-footed animal, whose footprints (found in the Upper New Red Sandstone) resemble a human hand; considered by Prof. Owen to be the same as the LABYRINTHODON, a large Batrachian reptile. Hence Cheirotherian a., of or belonging to the Cheirotherium.
1855. Lyell, Elem. Geol., xxii. (ed. 5), 339. A large unknown quadruped, provisionally named Cheirotherium by Prof. Kaup. Ibid., 341. The … Labyrinthodon having existed at the period when the Cheirotherian footsteps were made.
