monophyletic
Americanadjective
adjective
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relating to or characterized by descent from a single ancestral group of animals or plants
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(of animals or plants) of or belonging to a single stock
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Relating to a taxonomic group that contains all the descendants of a single common ancestor. All clades, such as birds and placental mammals, are monophyletic.
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Compare paraphyletic polyphyletic
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of monophyletic
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.
Genetic analysis also showed that circoviruses found in whales and other cetaceans form a distinct and well-supported monophyletic group within the genus Circovirus.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 6, 2026
This can be remembered because monophyletic breaks down into “mono,” meaning one, and “phyletic,” meaning evolutionary relationship.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
They form a "monophyletic group," or a collection of animals with a common evolutionary ancestor that is believed to not be widely shared by other groups.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2022
Both cydippid and lobate ctenophores, previously viewed as monophyletic clades, were recovered polyphyletic, indicating independent loss of both the cydippid larval stage and tentacle apparatus.
From Nature ● May 20, 2014
On the question as to whether descent was monophyletic or polyphyletic Darwin expressed no dogmatic opinion.
From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
