n.祖先；前任；原有事物

The Yunxian Man fossil skull is believed by scientists to belong to homo erectus, a predecessor of homo sapiens that walked on their two legs with an upright body posture. 科学家们认为袁县人属于直立人，是靠两条腿直立行走的智力人的祖先。

Recently unearthed fossils trace whales to a doglike predecessor of hoofed plant-eaters, and genetic analysis has identified hippos as whales' closest living relatives. 最近出土的化石使鲸的祖先可追溯到一种有蹄外形像狗的植食动物，而且基因分析证实了现存动物中河马是鲸的近亲。

He undid most of the good work of his predecessor. 他把前任的大部分业绩毁掉了。

Our new doctor is much younger than his predecessor. 我们新来的医生比他的前任年轻许多。

My prest car is much better than its predecessor . 我现在的汽车比原来的那辆好得多。