(biology) Of or pertaining to a mammal, such as the dog, that only enters into heat once during each of its normal breeding cycles.
1977, Solomon Zuckerman and Barbara J. Weir (eds.), The Ovary: Volume 2 Physiology, 2nd ed., ISBN 9781483259758, (Google preview):The dog, wolf, and fox are monestrous, the fox and wolf having one and the dog two cycles in a year.
2005, Robert Hine, The Facts on File Dictionary of Biology, 4th ed., ISBN 9781438109350, p. 129 (Google preview):Males of monestrous species also exhibit a cycle, being sexually active only during the females' estrus.
2013, William O. Reece, Functional Anatomy and Physiology of Domestic Animals, ISBN 9781118685990, p. 477 (Google preview):Most wild carnivorous mammals are monestrous.
