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Adaptation is a major topic in the philosophy of biology, as it concerns function and purpose . Some biologists try to avoid terms which imply purpose in adaptation, not least because it suggests a deity's intentions, but others note that adaptation is necessarily purposeful.
Cellular adaptation. In cell biology and pathophysiology, cellular adaptation refers to changes made by a cell in response to adverse or varying environmental changes. The adaptation may be physiologic (normal) or pathologic (abnormal). Morphological adaptations observed at the cellular level include atrophy, hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and ...
Local adaptation. Local adaptation is a mechanism in evolutionary biology whereby a population of organisms evolves to be more well-suited to its local environment than other members of the same species that live elsewhere. Local adaptation requires that different populations of the same species experience different natural selection.
Adaptationism. Adaptationism is a scientific perspective on evolution that focuses on accounting for the products of evolution as collections of adaptive traits, each a product of natural selection with some adaptive rationale or raison d'etre. [1][2][3][4] A formal alternative would be to look at the products of evolution as the result of ...
Adaptive behavior (ecology) In behavioral ecology, adaptive behavior is any behavior that contributes directly or indirectly to an individual's reproductive success, and is thus subject to the forces of natural selection. [1] Examples include favoring kin in altruistic behaviors, sexual selection of the most fit mate, and defending a territory ...
Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought is a 1966 book by the American evolutionary biologist George C. Williams.Williams, in what is now considered a classic by evolutionary biologists, [1] outlines a gene-centered view of evolution, [2] disputes notions of evolutionary progress, and criticizes contemporary models of group selection, including the ...
In biology, co-adaptation is the process by which two or more species, genes or phenotypic traits undergo adaptation as a pair or group. This occurs when two or more interacting characteristics undergo natural selection together in response to the same selective pressure or when selective pressures alter one characteristic and consecutively alter the interactive characteristic.
A psychological adaptation is a functional, cognitive or behavioral trait that benefits an organism in its environment. Psychological adaptations fall under the scope of evolved psychological mechanisms (EPMs), [2] however, EPMs refer to a less restricted set. Psychological adaptations include only the functional traits that increase the ...