noun
definition
A taxonomic category ranking between a family and a genus; formerly called a tribe
Examples of subfamily in a Sentence
There is one peculiar subfamily, Todinae, represented by only four species of Todus.
The subfamily is characterized by the narrow crowns of the molars, which are similar to those of sheep, and' the hairy muzzle.
Gazelles (Gazella), which form by far the largest genus of the subfamily, are inhabitants of open and frequently more or less desert districts.
A still more aberrant gazelle is a small North-East African species known as the beira (Dorcatragus melanotis), with very short horns, large hoofs and a general appearance recalling that of some of the members of the subfamily Neotraginae, although in other respects gazelle-like.
The duikers, or duikerboks (Cephalophus), of Africa, which range in size from a large hare to a fallow-deer, typify the subfamily Cephalophinae, characterized by the spike-like horns of the bucks, the elongated aperture of the face-glands, the naked muzzle, the relatively short tail, and the square-crowned upper molars; lateral hoofs being present.
Giesbrecht, displacing the older name Ascomyzontidae, assigns to this family 21 genera in five subfamilies, and suggests that the long-known but still puzzling Nicothoe from the gills of the lobster might be placed in an additional subfamily, or be made the representative of a closely related family.
The genus Meleagris is considered to enter into the family Phasianidae, in which it forms a subfamily Meleagrinae, peculiar to North and Central America.
In habits it may be taken as typical of the subfamily.
The fish known as loaches (Cobitinae) form a very distinct subfamily of the Cyprinidae, and are even regarded by some authors as constituting a family.
Although the British representatives of this group should undoubtedly retain their vernacular designations of water-rat and short-tailed field-mouse, the term "vole" is one of great convenience in zoology as a general one for all the members of the group. Systematically voles are classed in the mammalian order Rodentia, in which they constitute the typical section of the subfamily Microtinae in the Muridae, or mouse-group. As a group, voles are characterized by being more heavily built than rats and mice, and by their less brisk movements.
As a temporary measure it seems preferable to regard Merycodus either as representing a distinct subfamily of Antilocapridae or a family by itself, the latter course being adopted by Mr Matthew.
Nausithoe, a small medusa of world-wide distribution, is the type of the subfamily Nausithoidae; the subfamily Linergidae includes the genera Linerges, &c., medusae confined to tropical seas.
A second subfamily is represented by the Indian Platacanthomys and the Chinese Typhlomys, in which there are only three pairs of cheek-teeth; thus connecting the more typical members of the family with the Muridae.
The true boas comprise some forty species; most of them are American, but the genus Eryx inhabits North Africa, Greece and south-western Asia; the genus Enygrus ranges from New Guinea to the Fiji; Casarea dussumieri is restricted to Round Island, near Mauritius; and two species of Boa and one of Corallus represent this subfamily in Madagascar, while all the other boas live in America, chiefly in tropical parts.
The foregoing genera constitute the subfamily Equinae, or the Equidae as restricted by the older writers.
Between this subfamily and the second subfamily, Hyracotheriinae, a partial connexion is formed by the North American Upper Miocene genera Desmatippus and Anchippus or Parahippus.
That is an entirely separate subfamily to the one which the Hindi and Urdu languages of India and Pakistan belong.
Hence it is made the type of a distinct subfamily, the Myrmecobiinae, as distinct from the Dasyurinae, which includes all the other members of the family.
Scientifically the name is extended to include all the members of the African genus Cephalophus, which, together with the Indian chousingha, or four-horned antelope (Tetraceros), constitutes the subfamily Cephalophinae.
Thus instead of contenting himself with terms that had met with pretty general approval, such as class, subclass, order, suborder, family, subfamily, and so on, he introduced into his final scheme other designations, " agmen," " cohors," " phalanx," and the like, which to the ordinary student of ornithology convey an indefinite meaning, if any meaning at all.
Belonging to the family Lemuridae (see PRIMATES) it typifies the subfamily Indrisinae, which includes the avahi and the sifakas (q.v.).
It is the only species of its genus, and typifies a subfamily, Rupicaprinae, of hollowhorned ruminants in some degree intermediate between antelopes and goats (see ANTELOPE).
It is classified within the Northern Branch of the West Atlantic subfamily of the Niger-Congo language family.
The database is searchable by gene name, or by kinase classification at the group, family or subfamily level.
Evolutionary Development We are currently investigating the genetic control of floral morphology in the subfamily Papilionoideae.
Family trees and subfamily sequence comparisons reveal the evolutionary relationships among receptors.
Till recently the aye-aye was regarded as representing a family by itself - the Chiromyidae; but the discovery that it resembles the other lemurs of Madagascar in the structure of the inner ear, and thus differs from all other members of the group, has led to the conclusion that it is best classed as a subfamily (Chiromyidae) of the Lemuridae.
Of parrots, Stringops, the kakapo or owl-parrot, is certainly peculiar, while Nestor constitutes a peculiar subfamily of the brush-tongued parrots or Trichoglossidae.
The Passerine Falculia, with its recently extinguished allies Fregilupus and Necropsar of the Mascarenes; the Coraciine Brachypteracias, Atelornis and Geobiastes, are very abundant, while Heliodilus is an owl belonging to that subfamily which is otherwise represented only by the widely-spread barn owl, Strix flammea.
It follows that the subfamily typified by this species, in which are included the gazelles, is the one to which alone the term antelopes should be applied if it were employed in a restricted and definable sense.
Some, for instance, may consider that the chamois and the so-called white goat of the Rocky Mountains are entitled to be included in the group; but this is not the view held by the authors of the Book of Antelopes referred to below; and, as a matter of fact, the term is only a vague designation for a number of more or less distinct groups of hollow-horned ruminants which do not come under the designation of cattle, sheep or goats; and in reality there ought to be a distinct English groupname for each subfamily into which "antelopes" are subdivided.
The small horns and bluish-grey colour of the adult bulls serve to distinguish the Indian nilgai, Boselaphus tragocamelus, from the other members of the subfamily.
The third subfamily is the Antilopinae, the members of which, have a much wider geographical range than either of the foregoing groups.