Synonyms
Definition
An adaptation (in the evolutionary sense) is a feature/trait that serves a particular function in an organism’s environment and improves that organism’s ability to survive (i.e., its fitness).
Introduction
Although the word adaptation is used in a number of different ways and its definition debated, most biological researchers agree that adaptations offer organisms higher fitness in their environments, thus enabling the organism to survive and reproduce (Kitano 2002). Adaptations arise as a result of evolutionary changes in the genetic constitution of a population of organisms (Zeigler 2014). Thus, an evolutionary adaptation may be considered as both a “process” impacting and organisms’ morphology, as well as a “feature” of the organism itself (Bock 1980).
Individual adaptations also referred to as adaptive traits/features are thus particular traits of the organism which enable species survival (O’Brien and Holland 1992). These adaptive traits are...
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References
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Spocter, M.A. (2020). Adaptation. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1704-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1704-1
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