saltationism

[ sal-tey-shuh-niz-uhm ]

noun

, Biology.

1. any of several theories holding that the evolution of species proceeds in major steps by the abrupt transformation of an ancestral species into a descendant species of a different type, rather than by the gradual accumulation of small changes.

Other Words From

• sal·tation·ist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of saltationism¹

First recorded in 1970–75; saltation + -ism