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
The only endemic for which the geographic history cannot be adequately explained is the monotypic Pityriasis gymnocephala.
From Birds from North Borneo University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, Volume 17, No. 8, pp. 377-433, October 27, 1966 by Max C. Thompson
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 George John Romanes
P.S.—I have just thought that your remark about the much variation of monotypic genera was to show me that even in these, the smallest genera, there was much variability.
From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1 by Sir Francis Darwin
IKE Leuchtenbergia, this genus is monotypic, and it is also rare, difficult to cultivate, and exceptionally interesting in structure.
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.
