What is an example of exaptation?
Exaptation is the process of adaptation of a trait for a purpose other than what the trait was evolved for. For instance, an exaptation could be the use of feathers for mating displays or flight in birds which evolved feathers originally to keep warm. An exaptation is also known as pre-adaptation.
What exactly is an exaptation?
Exaptation is a term used in evolutionary biology to describe a trait that has been co-opted for a use other than the one for which natural selection has built it. They proposed exaptation as a counterpart to the concept of adaptation. For example, the earliest feathers belonged to dinosaurs not capable of flight.
Why is exaptation important?
Exaptation is an important concept in helping us discuss and think about the evolution of the diversity of life. That is not to say that adaptations are not important. They are. We would all be pretty lousy at making a living if none of our traits were adapted for their current functions.
Who came up with exaptation?
Stephen Jay Gould
Definition of exaptation Note: The word exaptation was proposed by Stephen Jay Gould and Elizabeth Vrba in the 1980s as an alternative to preadaptation, which was felt to imply that such traits, features, or structures were destined for a future function.
Are Exaptations selected for?
While exaptations are traits that have been enlisted for new uses, adaptations have been shaped by natural selection for their current function, they wrote.
Are Exaptations rare?
Exaptations are common in both anatomy and behaviour. Interest in exaptation relates to both the process and products of evolution: the process that creates complex traits and the products (functions, anatomical structures, biochemicals, etc.) that may be imperfectly developed.
How does the concept of exaptation apply to the evolution of the eye?
Exaptations are adaptations that have undergone a major change in function. By recruiting genes from sources originally unrelated to vision, exaptation has allowed for sudden and critical photosensory innovations, such as lenses, photopigments, and photoreceptors.
How does exaptation differ from adaptation?
While adaptation refers to a feature produced by natural selection for its current function (e.g. echolocation in bats), exaptation has been defined as a feature that performs a function but was not produced by natural selection for its current use (e.g. feathers that might have originally arisen in the context of …
How do Exaptations differ from adaptations?
How do Exaptations differ from Adaptations? An adaptation is any feature that promotes fitness and was built by selection for its current role. An Exaptation is a feature that is utilized for something other than its original role.
What are some examples of Exaptations in plant organs?
Trace the origin and evolution of these two organ systems and use them to highlight some of the salient features of exaptation.
What is an exaptation mastering biology?
The term “exaptation” refers to a feature that evolved in one context and was later adapted for use in another context. EXAMPLE OF EVO-DEVO. paedomorphosis.
Are Wings an exaptation?
Feathered wings used by birds for flight provide a good example of exaptation in action. Because it is unlikely that wings and feathers evolved initially and specifically for flight, the feathered wings we see on today’s flight-capable birds are a clear example of an exaptation.
What does exaptation mean in biology?
Definition of exaptation. : 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. As for exaptations, we need look no further than feathers.
What is exaptation and who proposed it?
Exaptation was proposed by Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba, as a replacement for ‘pre-adaptation’, which they considered to be a teleologically loaded term. The idea that the function of a trait might shift during its evolutionary history originated with Charles Darwin ( Darwin 1859 ).
What is exaptation and co-option?
Exaptation and the related term co-option describe 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.
What is the difference between exaptation and preadaptation?
While exaptation has been widely adopted, preadaptation continues to be acceptable in current usage with both terms showing comparable frequency of usage. Recent Examples on the Web In 1982, Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba gave a name to this phenomenon: exaptation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlo6gASgwVw