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Atavism 601 Words You Need to Know

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


About Dr. Mohammad Hossein Hariri Asl

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