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Glite Dictionary
🌱 Environmental analysis 🛬 Larnaca airport 🚤 A military boat 🧬 Shared ancestor ❤️ Heart artery 🌳 Common ancestor node
LCA

LCA

7.9
The most recent ancestor shared by two or more species
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : ancestro común más reciente
  • The LCA of humans and gorillas is estimated to have existed millions of years ago.

Examples

  • Scientists debate when the LCA of modern birds and reptiles lived.

  • Genetic studies help researchers identify the LCA of different animal species.

  • The LCA is crucial in evolutionary biology.

  • Can you explain what an LCA is?

  • The LCA is essential for understanding the evolutionary relationships between species.

  • Research into the LCA of mammals has revealed fascinating insights into our evolutionary history.

  • Identifying the LCA can help scientists trace the development of various traits across species.

Synonyms

common progenitor
vsLCA
  • Specialized
7.7

A shared ancestor that more than one species or group comes from

is the most recently shared organism of those groups

Surface Forms

LCA singular
LCAs plural

Morphology

LCA = L + C + A

This is an initialism/acronym: the letters do not transparently convey the meaning 'last common ancestor' without knowing the expanded phrase.

Etymology

LCA is short for last common ancestor, meaning the most recent shared ancestor of two groups, like the point where two branches meet on a family tree, and that is why scientists use LCA to name that shared ancestor.