heterochrony
[ het-uh-rok-ruh-nee ]
nounBiology.
a genetic shift in timing of the development of a tissue or anatomical part, or in the onset of a physiological process, relative to an ancestor.
Origin of heterochrony
1Other words from heterochrony
- het·er·o·chron·ic [het-er-uh-kron-ik], /ˌhɛt ər əˈkrɒn ɪk/, het·er·och·ro·nis·tic, het·er·och·ro·nous, adjective
Words Nearby heterochrony
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Scientific definitions for heterochrony
heterochrony
[ hĕt′ə-rō-krŏn′ē ]
A change in the timing or duration of an organism's ontogenetic development compared with an ancestral species, resulting in morphological differences between ancestor and descendant.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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