Monotypic Taxa

A monotypic taxon is one that contains only a single subordinate taxon. It is most commonly used to describe genera that contain only one species. It can also be used for subfamilies that contain only a single genus (even if that genus contains more than one species, and is therefore not monotypic itself). In theory a species would be called monotypic if it does not contain subspecies, but in practice this is rarely, if ever, done (at least in ants).