exaptation

[ eg-zap-tey-shuhn, ek-sap- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Biology.

a process in which a feature acquires a function that was not acquired through natural selection.
a feature having a function for which it was not originally adapted or selected.
a morphological or physiological feature that predisposes an organism to adapt to a different environment or lifestyle.
predisposition toward adaptation.

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Other Word Forms

��·��Ļ� adjective
��·��·�پ�� [eg-, zap, -tiv, ig-, ek-, sap, -], adjective

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The brain regions responsible for gesture could have been taken over by those used in speech through an evolutionary process called exaptation, wherein parts of an organism take on different or completely novel roles.

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This process of “exaptation” has now accelerated.

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Ideological skepticism also animates Timur Si-Qin’s “Monument to Exaptation,” three tall, sleek panels with the word “Peace” spelled in neat white letters on each panel’s sides under a round symbol resembling a yin-yang sign.

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The titular word “exaptation” is crucial.

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References 22,49 describe the exaptation of conserved regulatory sequences for other functions.

From

exanthema exarate

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