a structure that is less fully developed compared with closely related forms
(ves tij´ ee al) [L. vestigium: footprint, track] • The remains of body structures that are no longer of adaptive value to the organism and therefore are not maintained by selection.
Not fully developed; rudimentary.
(L. vestigium: footprint, trace) adj. An organ or structure which is much reduced rom the ancestral condition and likely nonfunctional, though believed at one time to have been more perfectly formed. Cf. rudimentary.
rudimentary; degenerate, atrophied; of or pertaining to the last trace of something that once existed
Poorly developed; degenerate; non-functional.
a small, functionless structure that was once well-developed in an organism's ancestors but which has been reduced during the course of evolution
Describing a characteristic which has receded from a useful structure in an ancestral form, and has little or no current use.
Remaining in a species only in a much reduced or useless state. Vestigial body parts or organs are evidence of parts that the ancestors of an animal had, but that the modern animal no longer needs or uses. For example, the Rosy Boa bears vestigial traces of the legs of its lizard ancestors.
Existing as a trace of something that is in the process of being evolutionary lost.
reduced from the ancestral condition and no longer functional. cf. obsolete, rudimentary.
vestigium - a footprint, a track, a trace]. Any structure or organ that is reduced in size or function when compared to a previous embryonic stage or similar structure in related organisms or in the fossil record.
Poorly developed, degenerate or atrophied, more fully functional in an earlier stage of development of the individual or species.
a structure that appears functionless in one species that is clearly homologous to a functional structure in another species. e.g, veriform appendix in humans
Pertaining to structures or organs that were well developed in an organism's ancestors but have become rudimentary during the course of evolution. ( 14)
