autapomorphy
noun
au·tap·o·mor·phy
| \ ȯ-ˈta-pə-ˌmȯr-fē
\
\
plural autapomorphies
Definition of autapomorphy
biological taxonomy
: a specialized character or trait that is unique to a monophyletic taxonomic group
… An eversible penis is a synapomorphy that unites lizards and snakes in a common monophyletic group, the Squamata, but is an autapomorphy of the Squamata within a larger monophyletic assemblage.— Robert L. Carroll, Patterns and Processes in Vertebrate Evolution, 1997 These species share key traits as autapomorphies of their clade—and since these traits help to construct the relevant environment, sufficient similarity becomes, in part, an active construction of related organisms, not only a happenstance of common externalities.— Stephen Jay Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, 2002
Other Words from autapomorphy
autapomorphic
\ ȯ-ˌta-pə-ˈmȯr-fik
\
or less commonly autapomorph \ ȯ-ˈta-pə-ˌmȯrf
\
adjective
\
or less commonly autapomorph \ ȯ-ˈta-pə-ˌmȯrf
\
adjective
These features are not known for any Jurassic and Cretaceous mammals and are autapomorphic for this new mammalian lineage.
— Zhe-Xi Luo and John R. Wible, Science, 1 Apr. 2005
autapomorphous
\ ȯ-ˌta-pə-ˈmȯr-fəs
\
adjective
\
adjective
The Chondrichthyes are a monophyletic clade and are principally distinguished on the basis of two unique autapomorphous character sets.
— Eileen D. Grogan and Richard Lund, in Biology of Sharks and their Relatives, 2004
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