Crossword clues for monotreme
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Monotreme \Mon"o*treme\, n. [Cf. F. monotr[`e]me.] (Zo["o]l.) One of the Monotremata.
Wiktionary
a. (context palynology of a pollen grain English) Having a single trema, or aperture. n. (context zoology English) A mammal that lays eggs and has a single urogenital and digestive orifice. Only the echidnas and platypuses are included in this group.
WordNet
n. the most primitive mammals comprising the only extant members of the subclass Prototheria [syn: egg-laying mammal]
Wikipedia
Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs ( Prototheria) instead of giving birth to live young like marsupials ( Metatheria) and placental mammals ( Eutheria). The only surviving examples of monotremes are all indigenous to Australia and New Guinea, although there is evidence that they were once more widespread. The existing monotreme species are the platypus and four species of echidnas. There is currently some debate regarding monotreme taxonomy.
The word monotreme comes from the Greek μονός, monos ("single") and τρῆμα, trema ("hole"), referring to the cloaca.
Usage examples of "monotreme".
Paleontologists in Australia have recently discovered the jawbone of a Cretaceous monotreme called Kollikodon ritchiei, 120 million years old.
Some of the most primitive mammals were the little-known multituberculates, who may have been ancestral to the monotremes or could have arisen independently.
Mammals, marsupials, monotremes, birds, reptiles, worms, insects, arachnids, crustaceans, planaria, nematodes, protists, fungi, even a horticultural center.
Mammals, marsupials, monotremes, birds, reptiles, worms, insects, arachnids, crustaceans, planaria, nematodes, protists, fungi, even a horticultural center.
Some of the most primitive mammals were the little-known multituberculates, who may have been ancestral to the monotremes or could have arisen independently.
The offspring may eventually be packaged for release within a protective eggshell, together with an energy supply in the form of yolkas in all birds, many reptiles, and monotreme mammals (the platypus and echidnas of Australia and New Guinea).