preadaptation
[ pree-ad-uh p-tey-shuh n ]
/ ˌpri æd əpˈteɪ ʃən /
|
noun Biology.
a structure or property that developed in an ancestral stock and was useful in a descendant in a changed environment.
Nearby words
- preachment,
- preachy,
- preacquisition profit,
- preadamite,
- preadapt,
- preadmission,
- preadolescence,
- preadolescent,
- preadult,
- preagonal
Origin of preadaptation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for preadaptation
Nothing is more wonderful in history than the unmistakable signs and proofs of preadaptation.
George Muller of Bristol|Arthur T. Pierson
preadaptation
/ (ˌpriːædəpˈteɪʃən) /
noun
biology the possession by a species or other group of characteristics that may favour survival in a changed environment, such as the limblike fins of crossopterygian fishes, which are preadaptation to terrestrial life
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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