altricial

adjective

Young requiring care or nursing after hatching. Opposite of precocial, also used to describe ontogeny with large numbers of ova with low energy content, poorly-developed larvae and relatively large clutches in early maturing and slow-growing fishes. a term used to describe the developmental pattern in birds in which newly hatched young are relatively immobile, have closed eyes, lack down, and must be cared for by the adults. Altricial young are born helpless and stay in the nest for a comparatively long time. Cf precocial, semi-altricial, precocious.