apomorphy

noun

ap·o·mor·phy ˈa-pə-ˌmȯr-fē

plural apomorphies

biological taxonomy

: a specialized trait or character that is unique to a group or species : a character state (such as the presence of feathers) not present in an ancestral form

In this case, white flowers are a derived condition, an apomorphy, and red flowers are the ancestral condition.—

James D. Mauseth, Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology, 2009

apomorphic

¦a-pə-¦mȯr-fik

adjective

or less commonly apomorph

ˈa-pə-ˌmȯrf

As far as possible, it is assumed that each apomorphic evolutionary event only occurred once in the history of each group of related taxa … —

C. Barry Cox and Peter D. Moore, Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach, 2010

… such apomorph characters are believed to be found only among the descendants of the ancestor in which the character first occurred. —

Ernst Mayr, The Growth of Biological Thought, 1982

Word History

Etymology

apomorphic or apomorphous (borrowed from German apomorph, from apo- "away from, apo-" + -morph "having such a structure, -morphous) + -y entry 2

First Known Use

1969, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of apomorphy was in 1969

See more words from the same year