Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A taxonomic subdivision of a species consisting of an interbreeding, usually geographically isolated population of organisms.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In zoology and botany, a variety of a species; a climatic or geographical race recognizably different from another, yet not specifically distinguished; a conspecies.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A group somewhat lessdistinct than speciesusually are, but based on characters more important than those which characterize ordinary varieties; often, a geographical variety or race.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology, taxonomy A rank in the classification of organisms, below species
  • noun biology, taxonomy A taxon at that rank

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (biology) a taxonomic group that is a division of a species; usually arises as a consequence of geographical isolation within a species

Etymologies

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Examples

  • So the biggest of all reindeer subspecies is non-migratory, and so is the smallest, the platyrhynchus subspecies of Spitzbergen.

    Oh deer oh deer oh deer Darren Naish 2006

  • Anyway, the point is that if you're not a certain subspecies of nerd, you probably are going to find the Silmarillion boring.

    At least I didn't slight Tolkien Richard Nokes 2006

  • 'These mongooses may represent a separate subspecies from the one that exists in Kenya,' said Dr. De Luca of WCS 'Tanzania Program.

    Archive 2006-12-01 2006

  • Subsequently, the golden trout was described as a subspecies of cutthroat trout in 1892.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • In 1894, the landlocked salmon of Quebec was described as a subspecies, “S. salar ouananiche.”

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • As confusing as this may be for the non-expert the important consideration is the no matter wether correctly called redband steelhead, or redhead steelhead, they are all rainbow trout and are classified as subspecies of the full species Oncorhynchus mykiss.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • For example, there are no subspecies among the five species of Pacific salmon because, without a geographical barrier isolating adjacent populations, a fully anadromous species typically does not partition its diversity into discrete units that might be classified as subspecies.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • In 1894, the landlocked salmon of Quebec was described as a subspecies, “S. salar ouananiche.”

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • Subsequently, the golden trout was described as a subspecies of cutthroat trout in 1892.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • The Santo Domingo trout is sometimes classified as the subspecies nelsoni.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

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