pre·ad·ap·ta·tion (pr   d-p-t  sh n, -p-)n. A characteristic evolved by an ancestral species or population that serves an adaptive though different function in a descendant species or population. |
preadaptation [ˌpriːædəpˈteɪʃən]
n
(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Biology) 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
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