monophyletic

American  

[mon-oh-fahy-let-ik] / ˌmɒn oʊ faɪˈlɛt ɪk /

adjective

1. Biology. consisting of organisms descended from a single taxon.

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monophyletic British  

/ ˌmɒnəʊfaɪˈlɛtɪk /

adjective

1. relating to or characterized by descent from a single ancestral group of animals or plants

2. (of animals or plants) of or belonging to a single stock

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monophyletic Scientific  

/ mŏn′ō-fī-lĕt′ĭk /

1. 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.

2. Compare paraphyletic polyphyletic

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Other Word Forms

• monophyletism noun
• monophylety noun

Etymology

Origin of monophyletic

First recorded in 1870–75; mono- + phyletic

Example Sentences

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

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

Current evolutionary thought holds that all plants—green algae as well as land dwellers—are monophyletic; that is, they are descendants of a single common ancestor.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

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

If it has made itself master of the general evolution idea, then descent, even in its most gradual, continuous, monophyletic form, affects it not at all.

From Naturalism And Religion by Otto, Rudolf