The plural of 'atavus' (Latin for ancestor), used in scientific or formal contexts to refer to ancestral forms or evolutionary predecessors.
Direct borrowing from Latin 'atavi', the plural of 'atavus' meaning 'ancestors' or 'forefathers', used especially in evolutionary biology and scientific terminology.
When scientists talk about 'atavi' in evolutionary terms, they're using a Latin plural form to sound authoritative—it's a linguistic habit inherited from when all scientific writing was done in Latin, even though it sounds pretty formal by modern standards.
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