preadaptation

American  

[pree-ad-uhp-tey-shuhn] / ˌpri æd əpˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

Biology.

1. a structure or property that developed in an ancestral stock and was useful in a descendant in a changed environment.

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preadaptation British  

/ ˌpriːædəpˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. 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

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Etymology

Origin of preadaptation

First recorded in 1885–90; pre- + adaptation

Example Sentences

The unending richness of our culinary imaginations shows that food, like the mouth, is an example of preadaptation.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 26, 2014

In pselaphines, the preadaptation is even less clear.

From Scientific American • Dec. 10, 2012

Instead, the unique body plan of pselaphines might be the preadaptation.

From Scientific American • Dec. 10, 2012

Nothing is more wonderful in history than the unmistakable signs and proofs of preadaptation.

From George Müller of Bristol And His Witness to a Prayer-Hearing God by Pierson, Arthur T. (Arthur Tappan)

Now, the means employed by preadaptation is, if we take the matter in its simplest form, to be aware of sensations before they are experienced.

From The Mind and the Brain Being the Authorised Translation of L'Âme et le Corps by Binet, Alfred