All derivations featuring this suffix arepluralia tantum, but were formally understood as adjectives modifying the Latin feminine plural nounsbestiae(“beasts”) orplantae; e.g.Felinae(“cats”) =bestiae felinae(“feline beasts”).
With the understanding that, for example, members ofFungi,Archaea, andVirus are neither beasts nor plants, the historical fiction has little contemporary relevance.
