| an organism or cell capable of synthesizing all its metabolites from inorganic material, requiring no organic nutrients |
| the basic category of biological classification, composed of individuals that resemble one another are able to breed with one another |
subfamily sub·fam·i·ly (sŭb'fām'ə-lē)
n.
A taxonomic category ranking between a family and a genus.
| subfamily (sŭb'fām'ə-lē) Pronunciation Key
A subdivision of a family of organisms, containing one or more genera. The names of subfamilies in the animal kingdom typically end in -inae, as in Cerambycinae, a subfamily of the longhorn beetle family Cerambycidae. |