saltationism

American

[sal-tay-shuh-niz-uhm] / sælˈteɪ ʃəˌnɪz əm /

noun

Biology.

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.

First recorded in 1970–75; saltation + -ism

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023