Word
mammalian
Phoneticsmam·malian
US/məˈmeɪɫiən/
UK/mæmˈeɪliən/
Definition
adj. relating to mammals, which are animals that feed their babies with milk from the mother's body.
adj. relating to or characteristic of the class Mammalia. Typically describes biological processes, physical traits, or species belonging to this group.
Examples
“Whales are mammalian creatures that live in the ocean.”
“The researchers studied mammalian brain development to better understand how human memory functions.”
“The transition from reptilian to mammalian jaw structures represents one of the most well-documented transformations in the vertebrate fossil record, illustrating a shift in both feeding and hearing mechanisms.”
Examples
simple
“Whales are mammalian creatures that live in the ocean.”
contextual
“The researchers studied mammalian brain development to better understand how human memory functions.”
complex
“The transition from reptilian to mammalian jaw structures represents one of the most well-documented transformations in the vertebrate fossil record, illustrating a shift in both feeding and hearing mechanisms.”
Usage
Primarily used as an adjective in scientific and academic contexts; less common as a noun referring to a specific mammal.
Real-World Examples
Common in science writing
“It could be evidence of the general switch from laying eggs to giving birth to live young early on in the mammalian lineage.” “Similar signals are involved in mammalian caregiving, suggesting that evolution may have followed the same basic blueprint across very different animals.” Etymology
From mammal + -ian.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/mammalian