autapomorphy, n. Taxon.
Brit. /ɔːˈtapəmɔːfi/, U.S. /ɔˈtæpəˌmɔrfi/, /ɑˈtæpəˌmɔrfi/
[‹ auto- comb. form1 + apo- prefix + -morphy comb. form. Compare slightly later apomorphy n.]
An autapomorphic character.
| 1959 Systematic Zool. 8 118/1 Characters are plesiomorphic..or are apomorphic..and their value for the classification varies according to their nature (symplesiomorphy, synapomorphy, autapomorphy, etc.). 1979 Amer. Museum Novitates 1-24 The color pattern of D. silverstonei is a convergent autapomorphy. 2000 C. Tudge Variety of Life ii. xiii. 346 Amphioxus and its like also have some autapomorphies or special features—including peculiar asymmetry in the juveniles—that show that the cephalochordates as we know them cannot include the ancestor of the vertebrates. |