The Collaborative International Dictionary
altricial \altricial\ adj. 1. born naked and blind and dependent on parents for food; -- of hatchlings. Opposite of precocial.
Wiktionary
a. (context zoology English) Helpless at birth (of young animals); or having young which are helpless at birth.
WordNet
adj. (of hatchlings) naked and blind and dependent on parents for food [ant: precocial]
Wikipedia
Altricial, meaning "requiring nourishment", refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born. The word is derived from the Latin root alere meaning "to nurse, to rear, or to nourish" and refers to the need for young to be fed and taken care of for a long duration. Species whose young are immediately or quickly mobile are known as precocial.
Usage examples of "altricial".
Further, our offspring are born nearly unformed, or altricial, replacing reflex instinct with lessons drawn from experience and the accumulated wisdom of the tribe, channeled by only the most general of innate predispositions.
Moreover, our offspring are altricial, helpless, nearly impossible for a mother to rear successfully in the wild without at least some outside aid.