| 释义 |
‖ prototheria, n. pl. Zool.|prəʊtəʊˈθɪərɪə|
[mod.L. (Gill, 1872), f. Gr. πρωτο- proto- + θηρία beasts.]
The lowest subclass of Mammals (correlative with Eutheria and Metatheria), comprising the single order Monotremata, with their hypothetical ancestors. Sometimes confined to the latter, as the primitive mammalian type. Hence protothere |ˈprəʊtəʊθɪə(r)|, a member of the Prototheria; prototherian |prəʊtəʊˈθɪərɪən|, a. belonging to the Prototheria; n. = protothere.
1880Huxley in Proc. Zool. Soc. 653 It will be convenient to have a distinct name, Prototheria, for the group which includes these, at present, hypothetical embodiments of that lowest stage of the mammalian type, of which the existing Monotremes are the only known representatives. 1881― in Nature XXIII. 229/1 There is no known Monotreme which is not vastly more different from the Prototherian type. 1885W. K. Parker Mammalian Desc. ii. 48 note, A thoroughly clear idea of what a primary mammal, an original, ancient ‘Protothere’ must have been like. 1903Q. Rev. Jan. 65 The astrapothere and prototheres died out without descendants. |