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Recent Examples of precocial
Hares are also born fully furred and with their eyes open, a trait called precocial, whereas rabbits are born hairless, blind, and vulnerable, needing more parental care in the early stages of life.
—
Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
Ducks are what scientists call precocial birds — capable of feeding, swimming and walking soon after hatching.
—New York Times, 22 June 2022
Godwits and most other ground nesters, on the other hand, are precocial birds.
—Jim Robbins, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Jan. 2022
Game birds, precocial, have larger clutches because the young, feathered and out of the nest upon hatching, are more subject to predation.
—Jim Williams, Star Tribune, 29 June 2021
The opposite are precocial birds, birds that hatch with feathers and are mobile and ready to go shortly after emerging from the egg.
—Anna Thomas Bates, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 28 June 2017
Comparison with avian brain evolution suggests that placental brain size should be constrained due to placentals’ relative precociality, as has been hypothesized for precocial bird hatchlings.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 10 Sep. 2010
Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
Ducks are what scientists call precocial birds — capable of feeding, swimming and walking soon after hatching.
—New York Times, 22 June 2022
Godwits and most other ground nesters, on the other hand, are precocial birds.
—Jim Robbins, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Jan. 2022
Game birds, precocial, have larger clutches because the young, feathered and out of the nest upon hatching, are more subject to predation.
—Jim Williams, Star Tribune, 29 June 2021
The opposite are precocial birds, birds that hatch with feathers and are mobile and ready to go shortly after emerging from the egg.
—Anna Thomas Bates, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 28 June 2017
Comparison with avian brain evolution suggests that placental brain size should be constrained due to placentals’ relative precociality, as has been hypothesized for precocial bird hatchlings.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 10 Sep. 2010
Recent Examples of Synonyms for precocial
Adjective
-
Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage.—
Jacob Camenker,
USA Today,
5 Oct. 2025
-
Fiscal responsibility for quality transportation was complicated and often dependent on public funding.—
Menika Dirkson,
The Conversation,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Despite some promising high-concept notions such as an intergalactic federation, mystic beings, parasitic species, a sentient interstellar craft, and Slipstream FTL quantum mechanics, seemingly inevitable creative differences arose as the show progressed.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
2 Oct. 2025
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The researchers had shown in 2023 that parasitic scraps of DNA could spread within bacterial populations by hitching rides on the tails of infecting viruses.—
Elie Dolgin,
IEEE Spectrum,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Soft corals are in a symbiotic relationship with algae.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
30 Sep. 2025
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Their relationship has become symbiotic, and their lives intertwined with the cemetery where both live in employee housing.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
27 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Precocial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/precocial. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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