subspecies

English

Etymology

The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris), the nominate subspecies of wildcats (Felis silvestris)

The African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), another subspecies of the wildcat

sub- +‎ species.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌbspiːʃiːz/, /-ʃɪz/, /-siːz/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sub‧spe‧cies

Noun

subspecies (plural subspecies)

1. (taxonomy) A rank in the classification of organisms, below species.
   • 1866, A[ndrew] C[rombie] Ramsay, “Trilobita”, in The Geology of North Wales (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and of the Museum of Practical Geology; ), London: Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office; published by Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, →OCLC, page 325:

     I believe it [the trilobite Calymene blumenbachii] has been divided into several forms, which cannot claim more than the rank of subspecies, as they pass by slight gradations into forms which no author has yet thought it right to separate from the type species.

2. (taxonomy) A taxon at that rank, often indicated with trinomial nomenclature (such as Felis silvestris silvestris in zoology and Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii in botany).
   • 1851, [Johann Jakob] Kaup, “Descriptions of Some New Birds in the Museum of the Earl of Derby”, in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, part XIX, London: Printed for the Society; sold at their house in Hanover Square, and by Messrs. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster Row, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 42:

     But these slight differences will not justify us in considering the West African chiquera as a true species distinct from the Indian true chiquera; it is only a subspecies of the latter true species.

3. A subdivision of a species in other scientific disciplines.
   • 1821, Robert Jameson, Manual of Mineralogy: Containing an Account of Simple Minerals, and also a Description and Arrangement of Mountain Rocks, Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable & Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson & Co., →OCLC, page 166:

     Granular Augite. […] This subspecies of augite has been hitherto found principally in primitive rocks at Arendal in Norway, in several of the iron-mines, particularly that named Ulve-Grube.

Synonyms

• (abbreviations): ssp., subsp.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Further reading

• subspecies on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /subˈspe.ki.eːs/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /subˈspe.t͡ʃi.es/,

Noun

subspeciēs f (genitive subspeciēī); fifth declension

1. subspecies

Declension

Fifth-declension noun.

Further reading

• subspecies on the Latin Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^la