allopatric
Americanadjective
adjective
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Occurring in separate, nonoverlapping geographic areas. Allopatric populations of related organisms are unable to interbreed because of geographic separation.
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◆ The development of new species as a result of the geographic separation of populations is called allopatric speciation.
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Compare sympatric
Other Word Forms
- allopatrically adverb
- allopatry noun
Etymology
Origin of allopatric
1940–45; allo- + Greek patr ( ía ) fatherland ( patḗr father + -ia noun suffix) + -ic
Compare meaning
How does allopatric compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Vocabulary lists containing allopatric
Animals (Zoology) - Middle School
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Evolutionary Biology - High School
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Animals (Zoology) - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Biologists group allopatric processes into two categories: dispersal and vicariance.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Genetic variation influences sympatric speciation, but not allopatric speciation.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
The students suggested these factors: natural selection, morphological mutations, punctuated equilibrium and allopatric speciation.
From Washington Post • Feb. 20, 2022
Perhaps the title should have something to do with allopatric speciation as well as just the numbers of the pigeons.
From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2017
The ranges of R. gracilis and R. mexicanus are allopatric except in southern Guatemala where the ranges overlap.
From Records of Harvest Mice, Reithrodontomys, from Central America, with Description of a New Subspecies from Nicaragua by Anderson, Sydney
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
