discontinuous variation

American  

noun

Biology.

1. variation in phenotypic traits in which types are grouped into discrete categories with few or no intermediate phenotypes.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

discontinuous variation

Mendel worked instead with traits that show discontinuous variation.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013

This seems crude when stated with archaic frankness but becomes plausible if paraphrased in modern language as "discontinuous variation and the spontaneous origin of definite species."

From Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 1 by Eliot, Charles, Sir

I think I have demolished "discontinuous variation" as having any but the most subordinate part in evolution of species.

From Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences, Vol. 2 by Marchant, James

Such a continuous change cannot be explained by a discontinuous variation, i.e. a mutation.

From Hormones and Heredity by Cunningham, J. T.

On the basis of the discontinuous variation in several characters which correlate with the disjunct distribution of the two populations, two subspecies of Hyla staufferi are recognized.

From The Systematics of the Frogs of the Hyla Rubra Group in Middle America by león, Juan R.