How to Use monotreme in a Sentence

monotreme

noun
Definition of monotremenext
  • The platypus is part of a small group of animals called monotremes, which lay eggs and produce milk to feed their young.
    — Maria Clark, NOLA.com, 19 Mar. 2018
  • There are only five existing species of monotremes: the platypus and four species of echidna.
    — Natalie Kainz, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2023
  • Only five living monotremes exist: four echidna species and the platypus.
    — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Nov. 2023
  • Though monotremes' fossil record is limited, some skulls have been found, such as the extinct Obdurodon dicksoni.
    — National Geographic, 30 July 2016
  • Eventually, after years of study and intense debate, the platypus was classified as a type of primitive mammal known as a monotreme.
    — Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 29 Aug. 2023
  • Their unique spot on the evolutionary tree as one of the only two living representatives of the monotreme order (besides echidnas) could even offer insights into the lifestyles of our long-extinct ancestors.
    — Connor Lynch, Discover Magazine, 4 Apr. 2022
  • Content includes video, images, and questions designed to teach students about mammals, birds, primates, bears, reptiles, monotremes, marsupials and others.
    — Tracy Maness, Houston Chronicle, 6 Apr. 2020
  • That includes all mammals except marsupials (like kangaroos and possums) and monotremes (like platypuses and echidnas).
    — Sarah Leupen, The Conversation, 5 Apr. 2023
  • Their bills even include electroreceptors, allowing our humble monotreme to detect living electrical fields produced by its prey.
    — Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 29 Aug. 2023
  • With webbed feet, beaver-like tails, duck bills, water-resistant coats and venom-secreting spurs on their hind legs, platypuses might be Australia’s most mysterious and charismatic monotreme, or primitive egg-laying mammals.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Jan. 2020
  • But not in the Somalian blind cavefish or placental mammals, which include every mammal aside from five monotreme species (most famously the platypus) and a couple hundred marsupials (kangaroos, koalas, wombats, Tasmanian devils and the like).
    — Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 11 Oct. 2018
  • There are three kinds of mammals: egg-laying monotremes such as the platypus, marsupials like kangaroos and opossums, and the majority—placental, or eutherian, mammals—including humans and about 4400 other mammal species.
    — Elizabeth Pennisi, Science | AAAS, 19 June 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'monotreme.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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