altricial definition
Freebase (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition: Altricial. Altricial, meaning requiring nourishment, refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born. Different animals employ different precocial and altricial strategies with no clear distinction between the two states and having a range of intermediate states. In the case of mammals it has been suggested that large adult body sizes favor production of large, precocious young, which develop with a long gestation period. Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Altricial, meaning requiring nourishment, refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born. Wiktionary (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition: altricial (Adjective) Helpless at birth (of young animals); or having young which are helpless at birth. Origin: From modern Latin Altrices (a former division of birds), plural of altrix, the feminine of altor ‘nourisher’, from alere ‘nourish’. Altricial animals' brains are relatively small at birth, thus their need for care and protection, but their brains continue to grow. As adults, altricial animals end up with comparatively larger brains than their precocial counterparts. Thus the altricial species have a wider skill set at maturity. Altricial young are born helpless and require care for a comparatively long time. Among birds, these include, for example, herons, hawks, woodpeckers, owls and most passerines. Rodents and marsupials are altricial, as are gray wolves, cats and dogs. Altricial means incapable of moving around on its own soon after hatching, and refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms. The word is derived from the Latin root alere meaning to nourish and refers to the need for young to be fed and taken care of for a long duration. It has been suggested that altricial strategies in mammals may be favoured if there is a selective advantage to mothers that are capable of resorbing embryos in early stages of development. In birds, the terms Aves altrices and Aves precoces was introduced by Sundeval (1836) and the terms nidifugous and nidicolous by Oken (1816). Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Altricial. Altricial, meaning requiring nourishment, refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born. The word is derived from the Latin root alere meaning to nurse, to rear, or to nourish, and refers to the need for young to be fed and taken care of for a long duration. Freebase (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition: Altricial Altricial, meaning requiring nourishment, refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born. The word is derived from the Latin root alere meaning to nurse, to rear, or to nourish, and refers to the need for young to be fed and taken care of for a long duration.
Altricial means incapable of moving around on its own soon after hatching, and refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms.