Bdelloidea

plural noun

Bdel·​loi·​dea

de-ˈlȯi-dē-ə

: a class (phylum Rotifera) comprising the bdelloids

The Class Bdelloidea of the Phylum Rotifera is the largest metazoan taxon in which males, hermaphrodites, and meiosis are unknown.

—David Mark Welch and Matthew Meselson, Science, 19 May 2000

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, alteration of Bdelloida bdelloida

First Known Use

circa 1925, in the meaning defined above

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