neotropical

adjective

neo·​trop·​i·​cal ˌnē-ō-ˈträ-pi-kəl 

variants or less commonly neotropic

ˌnē-ō-ˈträ-pik 

often capitalized

: of, relating to, or constituting the tropical New World biogeographic region that extends south, east, and west from the central plateau of Mexico

Examples of neotropical in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Bogan and Guzmán recorded the presence of a neotropical bluete in the river stretch near Marana. —The Arizona Republic, 21 July 2023

Creatures that have returned to the riverfront include a riparian brush rabbit native to the San Joaquin Valley and the Delta, tiny nesting neotropical songbirds, tri-colored blackbirds, monarch butterflies, the valley elderberry beetle, Swainson’s hawks, spring-run Chinook salmon and sturgeon. —Michael Cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 May 2022

New research suggests that the Chicxulub asteroid impact that most likely wiped out the dinosaurs also set the stage for modern neotropical rainforests like the Amazon. —Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 29 Dec. 2021

But Valentina Ferretti, an evolutionary ecologist at the Institute of Ecology, Genetics, and Evolution in Argentina, noted the study’s sample included relatively few neotropical species. —Byemiliano Rodríguez Mega, science.org, 8 Feb. 2023

Take a neotropical bird walk: Naturalist John Kolar will lead a morning bird walk from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday (May 21) at Swine Creek Reservation. —Joan Rusek, cleveland, 16 May 2022

This marks the first observation of such behavior in peccaries, tamanduas, tayras and neotropical fruit bats, the study authors note. —Sean Mowbray, Discover Magazine, 3 May 2022

One report commissioned by the CPRA includes a valuation of the marshland’s neotropical bird population, calculated via the millions of dollars tourists spend to watch their migration. —Boyce Upholt, Wired, 23 July 2022

Recent bird sightings as reported to the Mass Audubon: Last week saw the arrival of a major wave of warblers and other neotropical migrant species on the heels of the major flow of warm air from the south. —BostonGlobe.com, 21 May 2022

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Word History

Etymology

neo- + tropical

Note: Introduced, along with nearctic, ethiopian entry 2, and palearctic, by the British zoologist Philip Sclater (1829-1913) in "On the general Geographical Distribution of the Members of the Class Aves [read June 16th, 1857]," in Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Zoology, vol. 2 (1858), pp. 130-45.

First Known Use

1858, in the meaning defined above