monotypic
Americanadjective
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having only one type.
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of the nature of a monotype.
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Biology. having only one representative, as a genus with a single species.
adjective
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(of a genus or species) consisting of only one type of animal or plant
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of or relating to a monotype
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Having a single form or member, especially containing no more than one taxonomic category of the next lower rank. A monotypic genus contains a single species, while a monotypic species consists of a single population that is not divided into subspecies.
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Compare polytypic
Etymology
Origin of monotypic
1875–80; mono- + type ( def. ) + -ic ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Hansen started at Ogden Bay WMA three years ago, he described driving down the management area dikes, completely socked in by a sea of monotypic green.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 12, 2018
But that it is only a glimmering is proved by the immediately ensuing sentences, which apply this analogy of unconscious selection not to the case of monotypic, but to that of polytypic evolution.
From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol 3 of 3) Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by George John Romanes
The tribe is very poorly represented in tropical Africa; one species Oxytenanthera abyssinica has a wide range, and three monotypic genera are endemic in western tropical Africa.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various
One of your remarks I do not see the bearing of under your point of view—namely, that in monotypic genera "the variation and variability" are "much more frequently noticed" than in polytypic genera.
From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1 by Sir Francis Darwin
In the case of monotypic evolution by natural selection alone, intercrossing with the parent type is prevented through the gradual extinction of that type by successive generations of the developing type.
From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol 3 of 3) Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by George John Romanes
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