monophyletic
1
9.4
- adjective
- /ˌmɒnəfaɪˈlɛtɪk/
- Specialized
:
monofilético
- The genus is monophyletic and approximately 80 million to 90 million years old (Datwyler and Weiblen 2004).
- monophyletic group
- monophyletic genus
Examples
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Scientists discovered that the reptiles in this family are monophyletic, originating from one common ancestor.
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Nonetheless, Copeland claimed that this new kingdom was monophyletic because, in the distant past, all of its diverse members shared a common ancestor.
Academic text (2012) -
The otocephalans are a sister group to the monophyletic Euteleostei.
Academic text (2010) -
Copeland restricted his plant kingdom to a monophyletic group of vascular plants and their close relatives.
Academic text (2012) -
Lake Malawi may be monophyletic, but it has had time to produce several distinct descendant lineages.
Academic text (1992) -
As molecular sequences rapidly accumulated, along with advanced computational techniques to analyze them, confidence grew among biologists that monophyletic classification of formerly problematic groups was within reach.
Academic text (2012) -
In the phylogeny that we estimated for the rainbow skinks, each of the genera—Carlia, Lygisaurus, and Liburnascincus—was monophyletic.
Academic text (2018) -
All the species in this region are part of a monophyletic group that shares a common ancestor.
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The study showed that these plants form a monophyletic lineage derived from a single ancestor species.
Antonyms
- Specialized
A group of living things that come from different ancestors and are not closely related
How Related
- Specialized
1
9.4
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
monophyletic = phyletic (opaque) = mono + phylet + ic
The prefix mono- is clear, but the base phyletic is a technical biological term, so the full meaning is not readily inferable for ordinary learners.
Etymology
Monophyletic comes from mono- meaning 'one' (as in monarch) and -phyletic from a Greek word for 'group' or 'tribe'. So a monophyletic group is one 'group' of organisms that all come from the same ancestor, which is why scientists use the word for groups with a single origin.