| Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary 1,506,704,342 visitors served. |
|
Dictionary/ thesaurus | Medical dictionary | Legal dictionary | Financial dictionary | Acronyms | Idioms | Encyclopedia | Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
atavism |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.07 sec. |
|
atavism (ăt`əvizəm), the appearance in an individual of a characteristic not apparent in the preceding generation. At one time it was believed that such a phenomenon was thought to be a reversion of "throwback" to a hypothetical ancestral prototype. The term is seldom used today since science has shown that such abnormal characteristics can be explained by the inheritance of a pair of recessive genes gene, the structural unit of inheritance in living organisms. A gene is, in essence, a segment of DNA that has a particular purpose, i.e., that codes for (contains the chemical information necessary for the creation of) a specific enzyme or other protein. ..... Click the link for more information. . See Mendel Mendel, Gregor Johann (grā`gôr yō`hän mĕn`dəl) ..... Click the link for more information. . atavism the recurrence in a plant or animal of certain primitive characteristics that were present in an ancestor but have not occurred in intermediate generations How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
|
| ? Mentioned in |
|---|
| Encyclopedia |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Browser extension |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|---|