Exaptation or co-option is a shift in the function of a trait during evolution. For example, a trait can evolve because it served one particular function, but subsequently it may come to serve another. Exaptations are common in both anatomy and behaviour. Bird feathers are a classic example. Initially they may have evolved for temperature regulation, but later were adapted for flight. When ...
The meaning of EXAPTATION is a trait, feature, or structure of an organism or taxonomic group that takes on a function when none previously existed or that differs from its original function which had been derived by evolution; also : the condition or circumstance of possessing one or more such traits, features, or structures. How to use exaptation in a sentence.
An “exaptation” is just one example of a characteristic that evolved, but that isn’t considered an adaptation. Evolutionary biologists Stephen Gould and Elizabeth Vrba proposed vocabulary to let biologists talk about features that are and are not adaptations: Adaptation — a feature produced by natural selection for its current function (such as echolocation in bats, right). Exaptation ...
EXAPTATION definition: a process in which a feature acquires a function that was not acquired through natural selection. See examples of exaptation used in a sentence.
What is exaptation? Uncover the process where traits are co-opted for new functions, revealing evolution’s opportunistic nature.
Exaptation Assuming a biological approach, one suggestion that has a significant number of supporters is that syntax is an exaptation from nonsyntactic structure. One possible line on this is that the mental representations involved in thought developed combinatorial structure and this was then taken over by the linguistic system. Alternatively, combinatoriality might have originated in ...