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.

Origin of preadaptation

First recorded in 1885–90; pre- + adaptation

Example sentences 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

British Dictionary definitions for preadaptation

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