evolutionary trend
1
4.9
- noun
- Specialized
:
tendencia evolutiva
- It's open for debate if this is, in fact, an evolutionary trend where the brain develops away from the primate undercarriage, since practically all disorders have emotional suppression in common, pointing to letting go of the limbic system as the primary driver.
Examples
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Living species of Lovenia also reflect this evolutionary trend: those inhabiting deeper waters have fewer defensive spines than their shallow-water counterparts.
Academic text (1992) -
However, relative growth rate, which is the outcome of interactions among many ecophysiological traits, showed consistent evolutionary trends across species.
Academic text (2000) -
How much longer can this evolutionary trend persist?
Academic text (2005) -
Global security may require spotting dangerous new evolutionary trends in the virus.
Academic text (2005) -
This reduction may be a function of the wider genomic evolutionary trend.
Academic text (2010) -
This evolutionary trend has brought substantial benefits in the realms of democracy, equality, and individual development; family members are no longer lifetime captives of the family into which they happen to be born or to marry.
Academic text (1992) -
The major evolutionary trends in the conceptualization and treatment of children have moved the child from being considered basically a non-entity or miniature adult to being a special class of human being, and from property status to partial person status.
Academic text (1991) -
In summary, the evolutionary trend in cetacean molar morphology is toward a reduction of crests and basins.
Academic text (2001) -
More than a dozen sites display a third pattern: functional continuity and formal transformation, a common evolutionary trend, typified by a motel that survives but has undergone landscaping or structural change since the late 1950s.
Academic text (1992) -
Scientists analyzed the evolutionary trend of mammals to understand how their traits have developed over millions of years.
Synonyms
667
2.3
A general change over time in what people do or like
21
4.0
A slow change in opinions or policies over time
Antonyms
How Pronounced
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'evolutionary' (pertaining to evolution) modifies 'trend' (a general direction of change), so together they straightforwardly mean a general direction of change in evolution. This is a common, literal noun–modifier combination found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Evolutionary trend gives a simple picture: imagine a row of the same creature changing little by little so you can clearly see a trend in its evolutionary changes. So, the phrase means 'a general direction of change in a species or group over time'.