cephalism

plural cephalisms

1. obsoletebiologyAn instance of the development of a head or head-like structure.

   Thee closer connection off the subdivisions of the annelid is only one of degree; and as to having more organs in common than the Salpa it is rather like the community of interest which the coral cephalisms have in the main trunk.

   1870, The American Journal of Science and Arts, page 74

   1 more example

   The medusoid cephalism is persistent, it remains to perform, in addition to its usual functions, a part which is most commonly assigned to the hydroid; thereby illustrating, by a whole order of beings, the theory that not only the hydroid cephalism, but the most highly developed medusoid cephalism, normally, may remain a constant part o what is commonly called a polypidom.

   1878, Henry James Clark, Lucernariæ and Their Allies: A Memoir on the Anatomy and Physiology of Haliclystus Auricula, and Other Lucernarians