Prototheria (Noun)
Meaning
Echidnas; platypus.
Classification
Nouns denoting animals.
Examples
- The prototheria group is often referred to as the most ancient group of mammals, and it includes the platypus and echidnas.
- The monotremes, a subgroup of prototheria, are mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young like most other mammals.
- Echidnas are one of the few remaining species of prototheria, a group of mammals that were once thought to be extinct.
- The platypus is a unique member of the prototheria group, with a bill that is covered in soft, electroreceptive skin called papillae.
- Fossil records have revealed that prototheria similar to the modern-day platypus and echidna existed as far back as the Jurassic period.