monodelphousadj.
/ˌmɒnə(ʊ)ˈdɛlfəs/, U.S. /ˌmɑnəˈdɛlfəs/ Zoology. Now rare.
Of, belonging to, or characteristic of mammals whose females have a single uterus and vagina (i.e. all mammals other than marsupials and monotremes); = eutherian adj., placental adj. 1b.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Placentalia > [adjective]
monodelphous1854
placentalian1857
placentary1864
monodelphian1869
monodelphic1883
1854 C. Lyell Let. 10 June in Life, Lett. & Jrnls. (1881) II. xxvii. 197 Owen found the Thylacotherium (or Amplitherium) to be placental or monodelphous.
1869 T. H. Huxley Introd. Classif. Animals 98 The type of a distinct order of deciduate Monodelphous Mammalia.
1881 St. G. Mivart Cat 469 The Cat, as a monodelphous mammal, of course shares the characters which distinguish that sub-class from both the others.
1968 R. Zangerl tr. B. Peyer Compar. Odontol. 191 The teeth of the earliest monodelphous mammals..are at the same time brachyodont—low-crowned and provided with well-developed roots.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1854