Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

zombie taxon

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.48 in modern English

Syllables: zom-bie -tax-on
IPA

31

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

4

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A taxon that falsely appears to persist until, or reappear at, a time in the fossil record later than the taxon's actual point of extinction, due to fossils of organisms belonging to the taxon having been eroded from their original strata and redeposited in the source sediments for younger strata.

Etymology

Referring to the fossil having been mobile, or "walking", long after the death of the original organism.

Inflected Forms

zombie taxa (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

Elvis taxon Lazarus taxon

Questions

What does zombie taxon mean?: A taxon that falsely appears to persist until, or reappear at, a time in the fossil record later than the taxon's actual point of extinction, due to fossils of organisms belonging to the taxon having been eroded from their original strata and redeposited in the source sediments for younger strata.
Where does zombie taxon come from?: Referring to the fossil having been mobile, or "walking", long after the death of the original organism.

How to pronounce zombie taxon

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