Bauplan

noun

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Bau·plan | \ ˈbau̇-ˌplän

variants: or bauplan \ ˈbau̇-ˌplän

plural Bauplans or Baupläne\ ˈbau̇-ˌplā-nə

\ or bauplans or baupläne

Definition of Bauplan

biology

: the generalized structural body plan that characterizes a group of organisms and especially a major taxon (such as a phylum) All feline species have inherited the unique Bauplan of cats, and cannot deviate from this commonality as they adapt, each in its own particular way.— Stephen Jay Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, 2002 The results of this study demonstrate that in chelonians, as in mammals and birds, features characteristic of an apparently discrete and highly integrated Bauplan were accumulated gradually and in a precise order.— Michael S. Y. Lee, Science, 24 Sept. 1993 But nobody, and I mean nobody, thinks that evolution has ever been jumpy enough to invent a whole new bauplan in one step.— Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden, 1995 The entire organism encompasses a definable bauplan, and the specific organ systems themselves also encompass describable bauplans; in both cases the structural and functional components of the particular plan establish both capabilities and limits.— Richard C. Brusca and Gary J. Brusca, Invertebrates, 2nd edition, 2003 — compare archetype sense 3a