Definition of prototherian in English:
prototherian
noun ˌprəʊtə(ʊ)ˈθɪərɪənˌprōdəˈTHirēən
Zoology A mammal of the group Prototheria, which comprises the monotremes and their extinct relatives.
Example sentencesExamples
- Extant mammals, including prototherians (egg-laying mammals) and therians (marsupial and placental mammals), probably last shared a common ancestor about 160 million years ago.
adjective ˌprəʊtə(ʊ)ˈθɪərɪənˌprōdəˈTHirēən
Zoology Relating to or denoting prototherians.
Example sentencesExamples
- They had a common ancestor more recently than either had with the monotremes or, probably, any other prototherian group.
- In his classification of prototherian mammals Hopson queried the allocation of Haramiyidae to the Multituberculata.