Atavism 601 Words You Need to Know
/ˈæt.ə.vɪ.zəm/ (noun)
Definition
recurrence or reappearance of specific genetic features in subsequent generations taking after their ancestors while the genetic features have been dormant for years
Example
In biology, an atavism is a modification of a biological structure whereby an ancestral genetic trait reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations. Atavisms can occur in several ways; one of which is when genes for previously existing phenotypic features are preserved in DNA, and these become expressed through a mutation that either knocks out the overriding genes for the new traits or makes the old traits override the new one.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/
Parts of speech
Adjective: atavistic
Adverb: atavistically
Noun: atavist
