precocial
(of an animal species) active and able to move freely from birth or hatching and requiring little parental care (opposed to altricial).
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Origin of precocial
1Words Nearby precocial
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use precocial in a sentence
Young avocets are very precocial and leave the nest soon after hatching.
Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part 1 (of 2) | Arthur Cleveland BentThey were exceedingly active, a good example of precocial young.
Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part 1 (of 2) | Arthur Cleveland BentNote the helpless altricial young of the robin; the independent precocial young of the quail.
Elementary Zoology, Second Edition | Vernon L. Kellogg
British Dictionary definitions for precocial
/ (prɪˈkəʊʃəl) /
(of the young of some species of birds after hatching) covered with down, having open eyes, and capable of leaving the nest within a few days of hatching
a precocial bird
Origin of precocial
1- Compare altricial
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for precocial
[ prĭ-kō′shəl ]
Born or hatched in a condition requiring relatively little parental care, as by having hair or feathers, open eyes, and the ability to move about. Water birds, reptiles, and herd animals usually have precocial young. Compare altricial.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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