MONOPHYLETIC - Definition

	Sponsored Links:

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

	Definition:	\Mon`ophylet"ic\, a. [Gr. ? of one tribe, fr. ? single + ? clan.] (Biol.) Of or pertaining to a single family or stock, or to development from a single common parent form; -- opposed to {polyphyletic}; as, monophyletic origin.

Biology Dictionary

	Definition:	Composed of members which all originated from a single ancestral line. All members of the taxonomic group are descendants of the same ancestor, and all descendants of that ancestor are members of the group. For example, "birds" is a monophyletic group. Compare with polyphyletic and paraphyletic.