monoestrousadj.
/mɒnˈiːstrəs/, U.S. /mɑnˈɛstrəs/ Zoology.
Of, relating to, or designating a mammalian sexual cycle in which the periods of oestrus occur singly and at relatively long intervals, esp. annually.
ΚΠ
1900 W. Heape in Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. 46 16 There are two forms of sexual season evident in female mammals; the monœstrous, in which there is only a single œstrus at one or more particular times of the year (bitch), and the polyœstrous, in which there are two or more concurrent diœstrous cycles at a particular time of the year (mare).
1937 Nature 4 Dec. 950/1 Monœstrous animals are not those which experience ‘only one annual heat period’, for the dog is definitely monœstrous (that is, it has only one œstrous in a sexual season).
1984 J. E. Hill Bats vii. 93 The majority of Old World fruit bats..is thought to be monestrous, although individual bats of several species have been found to be pregnant in all months of the year.
1990 Jrnl. Zool. 222 561 A monoestrous species may appear to breed twice/year at specific localities where some individuals have a boreal cycle while others have an austral cycle.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1900