superfamily

plural superfamilies

1. biologyA taxonomic category above family and below order (and its subdivisions).

   There is no reason to deny a natural sequence or to split off genera only to have to attempt later to re-insert them into the whole by means of subordos and superfamilies.

   1967, Zoologische Verhandelingen, page 32

   1 more example

   The genus Saipanetta has been suggested to be a surviving relict of the metacopidan superfamily Healdiacea because of its muscle scar pattern and narrow duplicature; nevertheless, it differs from the Metacopida in its more complex hingement, lack of a distinct contact groove, exaggerated domiciliar asymmetry, and lack of posterior ridges or angulations.

   1978, Philip D. Gingerich, New Condylarthra (Mammalia) from the Paleocene and Early Eocene of North America, page 289

2. molecular biologyA large group of related proteins or other molecules.