therian

American  

[theer-ee-uhn] / ˈθɪər i ən /

adjective

1. (in some classification systems) belonging or pertaining to the group Theria, comprising the marsupial and placental mammals and their extinct ancestors.

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noun

1. a therian animal.

Etymology

Origin of therian

< New Latin Theri ( a ) name of the group (< Greek thēría, plural of thēríon wild beast) + -an

Example Sentences

Origolestes is an ancestor to therian mammals, the group that includes all placentals and marsupials alive today.

From Scientific American

It formed convergently, via multiple evolutionary pathways, and, at least in therian mammals, gave rise to myriad new innovations in jaw and ear evolution.

From Scientific American

But when the researchers looked at therian mammals alone – that is, the group that contains placental and marsupial mammals – they found that this subgroup quickly responded to the ecological shakeup by evolving more jaw functions.

From Scientific American

The acquisition of the auditory bones in euharamiyidans was related to the formation of the dentary-squamosal jaw joint, which allows a posterior chewing movement, and must have evolved independently from the middle ear structures of monotremes and therian mammals.

From Nature

Now scientists have shed further light on the matter, suggesting that early therian mammals – the predecessors of today’s placental and marsupial mammals – had developed a wide range of diets and ecological roles about 10 to 20 million years before the dinosaurs were wiped out.

From The Guardian