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
Similarly, and still more recently, Professor Le Conte writes:— It is evident, then, as Romanes claims, that natural selection alone tends to monotypic evolution.
From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol 3 of 3) Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by Romanes, George John
IKE Leuchtenbergia, this genus is monotypic, and it is also rare, difficult to cultivate, and exceptionally interesting in structure.
From Cactus Culture for Amateurs Being Descriptions of the Various Cactuses Grown in This Country, With Full and Practical Instructions for Their Successful Cultivation by Watson, W.
The museum catalogue numbers of the specimens examined, together with the localities from which they came, are listed at the end of the account of each subspecies or monotypic species.
From A Review of the Middle American Tree Frogs of the Genus Ptychohyla by Duellman, William E.
Or, in other words, natural selection, when acting alone, can never induce polytypic evolution, but only monotypic.
From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol 3 of 3) Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by Romanes, George John
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.
