hopeful monster

noun

, Biology.

1. a hypothetical individual organism that, by means of a fortuitous macromutation permitting an adaptive shift to a new mode of life, becomes the founder of a new type of organism and a vehicle of macroevolution.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hopeful monster¹

First recorded in 1933; phrase introduced by German geneticist Richard B. Goldschmidt (1879–1958)

Example Sentences

Yet her emotions are also given fair shrift, and ultimately she becomes the definition of a “hopeful monster,” a term derived fittingly from evolution sciences describing a bridge between stages of a species.

From Washington Post

Inspiration is the hopeful monster of science.

From Scientific American

The emergence of a single mutation that gives such a big advantage is derided by biologists as a “hopeful monster” theory; most evolution is gradual, operating on many genes, not one.

From Economist

Speaking to the BBC on grounds of anonymity the tweeter - Twitter handle The Hopeful Monster - revealed more about his company's paradoxical attitude towards office technology.

From BBC

Like the studies of Brusatte and others, Abzhanov’s work challenges the hopeful monster theory, and it does so on a genetic scale.

From Scientific American