chronospecies means A group of one or more species derived from a sequential development pattern which involves continual and uniform changes from an extinct ancestral form on an evolutionary scale. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “chronospecies” is a great word
CHRONOSPECIES — [Noun] A species defined by morphological changes in a single, unbranching evolutionary lineage over geological time, often identified in the fossil record where reproductive isolation cannot be observed. From the combining form chrono- (from Greek χρόνος (chrónos), meaning "time") + species (from Latin speciēs, meaning "appearance, kind"). Unlike a biospecies (which is defined by reproductive isolation among living contemporaries) or a morphospecies (which is a static, synchronic category), a chronospecies is a diachronic verdict imposed upon the unbroken ribbon of descent. It is the gradual straightening of a trilobite's spine across ten million years of shale, the subtle thickening of a horse's molar in successive strata, and the silent drift of a brachiopod's silhouette from a circle to an oval—a necessary fiction for mapping life’s continuous, whispering transformation.
Etymology
From chrono- + species.
noun
- A group of one or more species derived from a sequential development pattern which involves continual and uniform changes from an extinct ancestral form on an evolutionary scale.