noun
- Plural of infraclass; taxonomic ranks in biological classification that fall below the class level and above the order level.
Usage: technical; biology; taxonomy
Examples
- Infraclasses are used in zoological taxonomy to organize animals into finer groupings than classes.
- The infraclasses within Mammalia help scientists classify mammals more precisely.
- Biologists may use infraclasses when the standard class-to-order hierarchy needs additional subdivision.
- In modern cladistic classification, infraclasses represent intermediate evolutionary branches.