Subfamily: meaning, definitions and examples

Biology

• The concept of subfamilies helps organize living organisms into categories, making it easier for scientists to study them.
• Each subfamily contains genera (plural of genus), which includes species that are more closely related to each other than to species in other subfamilies.
• For example, in the family of cats, the subfamily Felinae includes domestic cats, lions, and tigers.

Etymology

• The word 'subfamily' is derived from the Latin prefix 'sub-', meaning 'under' or 'below', combined with 'family', which comes from the Latin 'familia'.
• The use of this term in biological classification began to gain ground in the 19th century, as scientists sought to better categorize organisms.

Culture

• In language, subfamilies describe groups of related dialects, similar to how some languages, like Spanish and Portuguese, are part of the Romance language subfamily.
• Understanding subfamilies can aid in cultural studies, showing how various languages or species have evolved and spread over time.

Education

• Subfamilies are commonly taught in school science classes, using examples like the classification of animals to help students learn about biodiversity.
• Recognizing subfamilies reinforces the idea of hierarchy in both biology and taxonomy, which is essential in scientific education.

Conservation

• Identifying subfamilies can help in conservation efforts, as it highlights the relationships between different species and their ecological roles.
• Protecting a subfamily of endangered animals can contribute to the overall health of the ecosystem they belong to.

Positioned at #20,913, this word is part of extensive vocabulary. It's relatively rare in general usage but may be important in specific fields or formal writing.

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• 20910 scavenging
• 20911 aeronautics
• 20912 resold
• 20913 subfamily
• 20914 profligate
• 20915 reread
• 20916 peaking
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