1.
[syn: Monotremata, order Monotremata]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Mammalia \Mam*ma"li*a\, n. pl. [NL., from L. mammalis. See
Mammal.] (Zool.)
The highest class of Vertebrata. The young are nourished for
a time by milk, or an analogous fluid, secreted by the
mammary glands of the mother.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Mammalia are divided into three subclasses;
[1913 Webster] I. Placentalia. This subclass embraces
all the higher orders, including man. In these the
fetus is attached to the uterus by a placenta.
[1913 Webster] II. Marsupialia. In these no placenta
is formed, and the young, which are born at an early
state of development, are carried for a time attached
to the teats, and usually protected by a marsupial
pouch. The opossum, kangaroo, wombat, and koala are
examples.
[1913 Webster] III. Monotremata. In this group, which
includes the genera Echidna and Ornithorhynchus,
the female lays large eggs resembling those of a bird
or lizard, and the young, which are hatched like those
of birds, are nourished by a watery secretion from the
imperfectly developed mammae.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Monotremata \Mon`o*trem"a*ta\, n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. mo`nos
single + ? hole.] (Zool.)
A subclass of Mammalia, having a cloaca in which the ducts of
the urinary, genital, and alimentary systems terminate, as in
birds. The female lays eggs like a bird. See Duck mole,
under Duck, and Echidna.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Monotremata
n 1: coextensive with the subclass Prototheria [syn:
Monotremata, order Monotremata]