Atavism

/ˈateɪvˌɪzəm/

/ˈætəvɪzəm/

Atavism

an ancestral or ancient trait, feeling, outlook, activity, etc. that modern humans revert to

synonyms : reversion

Examples

1. A friend of mine, a colleague of mine, Dr. Hans Larsson at McGill University, is actually looking at atavisms.

2. But sometimes, atavisms change the course of evolution, leading to the reemergence of traits in an entire species.

3. And so there are a number of atavisms that can happen.

4. There's what we call atavism activation.