cladogenesis

[klad-uh-jen-uh-sis, kley-duh-]

noun

Biology.

1. evolutionary change by the branching off of new species from common ancestral types.

Other Word Forms

• cladogenetic adjective
• cladogenetically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of cladogenesis¹

1950–55; < German Kladogenese; clado-, -genesis

Example Sentences

They found that anagenesis increases with island isolation, and cladogenesis increases on larger, more isolated islands.

Read more on Nature