Adaptation
Adaptation, in biology, is the process by which a species becomes fitted to its environment; it is the result of natural selection’s acting upon heritable variation over several generations. Organisms are adapted to their environments in a great variety of ways: in their structure, physiology, and genetics, in their locomotion or dispersal, in their means of defense and attack, in their reproduction and development, and in other respects (Gittleman, n.d.).
Adaptation, the process in which a living thing changes slightly over time to be able to continue to exist in a particular environment, or a change like this (Dictionary, 2025).
Adaptation is a property of phenotypic features of organisms relative to selection demands of the environment (Bock, 1980).
Adaptation is a defining property of living systems. It occurs when organisms become better suited to their environment. The phenomena that people find most fascinating about biological systems are, in general, the result of adaptive processes.
However, at present, scientific investigation of adaptation is impeded because evolutionary biologists have no satisfactory quantitative way to describe the degree to which an organism is adapted to its environment.
A satisfactory quantitative measure of adaptation would allow for investigation into how various environmental and genetic variables affect the development and maintenance of adaptation. Such a measure of adaptation can also be expected to advance research on ‘units of selection’, and on closely-related issues associated with ‘major transitions in evolution’(Peck, Waxman, 2018).
Gittleman, G. L. (2025, January 09). Adaptation. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from: https://bit.ly/40nZ90b.
Dictionary, C. (2025). Adaptation. Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Retrieved from: https://shorturl.at/JjSM8.
Bock, W. J. (2015? August 01). The definition and recognition of biological adaptation. American Zoologist, 20(1), 217–227. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/20.1.217.
Peck, J. R., Waxman, D. (2018, June 14). What is adaptation and how should it be measured? Journal of Theoretical Biology, 447, 190-198. Retrieved from: https://shorturl.at/I49u7.