A pattern of evolution where all features of an organism do not evolve at the same rate. Some characteristics are retained from the ancestral condition while others are more recently evolved.
the concept that major evolutionary changes tend to take place in stages, not all at once. Human evolution shows a mosaic pattern in the fact that small canine teeth, large brains, and tool use did not all evolve at the same time.
A process of evolution in which over time a number of elements which have come into existence independently come together to form a new more complicated system.
evolutionary origin of the features diagnostic of a higher taxon sequentially, so that intermediate organisms may be a mosaic of advanced and primitive features.