subgenus

American  

[suhb-jee-nuhs] / sʌbˈdʒi nəs /

noun

Anthropology, Biology.

plural

subgenera, subgenuses

1. a category of related species within a genus.

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subgenus British  

/ ˌsʌbdʒəˈnɛrɪk, sʌbˈdʒiːnəs, -ˌdʒɛn-, -ˈdʒɛn-, ˈsʌbˌdʒiːnəs /

noun

1. biology a taxonomic group that is a subdivision of a genus but of higher rank than a species

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Other Word Forms

• subgeneric adjective

Etymology

Origin of subgenus

From New Latin, dating back to 1805–15; see origin at sub-, genus

Example Sentences

The Huaxi Green Pitviper is now the 58th known species in the Trimeresurus genus and only the second from its subgenus recorded in Sichuan Province.

From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026

Where did the virus acquire the furin cleavage site, since no other viruses in the sarbecovirus subgenus, to which its closest relatives belong, have this feature?

From Washington Post • Oct. 11, 2021

Subsequent authors, stressing differences in the teeth, have placed M. richardsoni in the subgenus Aulacomys of Rhoads.

From The Baculum in Microtine Rodents by Anderson, Sydney

Note.—In the Friesian arrangement of the genera of the order Agaricini, which is adopted by M. C. Cooke, Hypholoma finds place as a subgenus of the genus Agaricus, spore series Pratelli.

From Student's Hand-book of Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous by Taylor, Thomas

Among these species Corvospongilla lapidosa and our representatives of the subgenus Stratospongilla are noteworthy.

From Freshwater Sponges, Hydroids & Polyzoa by Annandale, Nelson