exaptation
exaptation (eg-zap-TEY-shuhn, ek-sap-TEY-shuhn) - n., the utilization of a structure or feature for a function other than that for which it evolved through natural selection; a structure or feature that evolved by the process of exaptation.
Classic example: feathers originally evolved on dinosaurs for temperature regulation, but turned out to be useful for flight. Coined by Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba in 1982 from ex- + (ad)aptation (to replace the older term preadaptation, which hints at teleology -- and this process is instead contengent).
---L.
Classic example: feathers originally evolved on dinosaurs for temperature regulation, but turned out to be useful for flight. Coined by Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba in 1982 from ex- + (ad)aptation (to replace the older term preadaptation, which hints at teleology -- and this process is instead contengent).
---L.