metatherianadj.n.
/ˌmɛtəˈθɪərɪən/, U.S. /ˌmɛdəˈθɪriən/ Zoology.
A. adj.
Of, relating to, or designating mammals of the infraclass Metatheria.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [adjective]
marsupial1807
pouched1810
marsupiate1834
marsupian1835
didelphine1847
marsupialian1848
purse-bearing1859
didelphous1873
metatherian1880
1880 T. H. Huxley in Proc. Zool. Soc. 657 There is no known..Marsupial which has not far more widely departed from the Metatherian type.
1921 Science 8 July 28 The metatherian animals..are of distinctly Mesozoic aspect and closely related to those of the Judith and Lance.
1973 Nature 14 Dec. 391/1 It is controversial whether this stem was metatherian or eutherian or neither.
1994 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91 12569 Such a diagnosis also supports the metatherian status of other Cretaceous Asian and American taxa such as the Deltatheroida and Kokopellia.
B. n.
A metatherian mammal, a marsupial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > marsupial
marsupial1805
marsupian1835
marsupiate1850
metatherian1895
1895 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. III. 283 Mammals are divided into three primary groups or subclasses, viz.: 1. Eutherians, or Placentals... 2. Metatherians, or Implacentals, including the Pouched Mammals. 3. [etc.]
1916 F. W. Jones Arboreal Man xxviii. 197 These arboreal Metatherians have had all the educational advantages of a thoroughly arboreal life.
1994 Reprod., Fertility & Devel. 6 721 Marsupials (metatherians) and eutherians are the only two groups of viviparous mammals, but their modes of reproduction are quite distinct.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1880