preadaptation

[pree-ad-uhp-tey-shuhn]

pre·ad·ap·ta·tion

[pree-ad-uhp-tey-shuhn]
noun Biology.
a structure or property that developed in an ancestral stock and was useful in a descendant in a changed environment.

Origin:
1885–90; pre- + adaptation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Preadaptation is always a great word to know.
So is androgenous. Does it mean:
a process that results in differential reproduction among a population so that the inheritable traits of only certain individuals are passed on
pertaining to the production of or tending to produce male offspring
Collins
World English Dictionary
preadaptation (ˌpriːædəpˈteɪʃən)
 
n
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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