synapomorphy
/sɪˈnapə(ʊ)ˌmɔːfi
/noun (plural synapomorphies) Biology
1A characteristic present in an ancestral species and shared exclusively (in more or less modified form) by its evolutionary descendants: the study of skulls of this primitive reptile has led to the discovery of numerous synapomorphies with turtles...
- The only known synapomorphy of this group is the presence of a sesamoid bone in the heel region.
- But this is not very convincing, as it reveals only one valid synapomorphy.
- Those specimens include conclusive evidence of the strongest possible bird-theropod synapomorphy - completely modern feathers and the oldest, most birdlike dromaeosaurs.
1.1 [mass noun] Possession by two or more organisms of a characteristic inherited exclusively from their common ancestor: synapomorphy delineates the relative status of particular features with respect to a specific evolutionary problem...
- The diagnosis of Glades through synapomorphy becomes the starting point for the investigation of functional, temporal, adaptive and biogeographic questions.
- It is through cladistic analysis that we are able to tell homoplasy from synapomorphy.
- Thus, when a SINE sequence is found at an orthologous locus in two or more lineages, it can be regarded as evidence for synapomorphy.
Origin
1960s: from syn- 'together' + apo- 'away from' + Greek morphē 'form'.