Definition of Polyphyletic

1. a. Pertaining to, or characterized by, descent from more than one root form, or from many different root forms; polygenetic; -- opposed to monophyletic.

Definition of Polyphyletic

1. Adjective. (biology) Having multiple ancestral sources; referring to a taxon that does not contain the most recent common ancestor of its members. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Polyphyletic

1. [adj]

Medical Definition of Polyphyletic

1. Composed of members that originated, independently, from more than one evolutionary line. Compare: monophyletic. (09 Oct 1997)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Polyphyletic

polyphore
polyphores
polyphosphate
polyphosphate AMP phosphotransferase
polyphosphates
polyphosphazene
polyphosphoinositide phosphatase
polyphosphonate
polyphosphonates
polyphosphoric
polyphosphoric acid
polyphosphorylase
polyphrasia
polyphthalocyanine
polyphthalocyanines
polyphyletic (current term)
polyphyletic theory
polyphyletism
polyphyllin
polyphyllous
polyphyly
polyphyodont
polyphyodonty
polypi
polypiarian
polypiarians
polypide
polypides
polypidom
polypidoms

Literary usage of Polyphyletic

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and by Hugh Chisholm (1911)
"The polyphyletic law was early demonstrated among invertebrates by ... As early as 1862 Gaudry set forth this very polyphyletic principle id his tabular ..."

2. The American Geologist: A Monthly Journal of Geology and Allied Sciences by Newton Horace Winchell (1905)
"The polyphyletic law is an outgrowth of four different kinds of evidence. ... -Third the polyphyletic law is the result of local adaptive radiation or ..."

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