单词 | preadaptation |
释义 | preadaptationn. Adaptation beforehand; (Biology) adaptation to future or subsequent conditions; esp. (in evolutionary biology) adaptation of an organism to its environment or mode of life which occurs fortuitously when a change of conditions results in advantage from a feature previously adapted for some other function. Also: an instance of this. Cf. exaptation n. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [noun] > adaptation > pre-adaptation preadaptation1868 1868 F. De Peyster Addr. Culture Demanded by Age 9 Nov. (1869) 17 The simple phenomena with which we begin, soon become exceedingly complicated. But it is also evident that the mind advances easily along this path, because there is a preadaptation to this method in its very nature. 1886 J. Ward in Encycl. Brit. XX. 73/1 The movements are only more definite than those simply expressive of pain because of inherited pre-adaptation. 1915 Eugenics Rev. 7 56 Versatility is an attempt at universal preadaptation, indeed at complete independence of particular circumstances. 1942 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) 2 144 Wear the special pre-adaptation goggles which will provide you with your hour's synthetic night before you tackle the real one. 1958 J. E. Morton Molluscs ii. 40 Flattening and streamlining are preadaptations as useful to a water-borne mollusc as to a bottom dweller. 1991 S. J. Gould Bully for Brontosaurus ix. 144 Vrba and I have proposed that the restrictive and confusing word ‘preadaptation’ be dropped in favor of the more inclusive term ‘exaptation’—for any organ not evolved under natural selection for its current use—either because it performed a different function in ancestors (classical preadaptation) or because it represented a nonfunctional part available for later co-optation. Derivatives preadapˈtational adj. relating to or characterized by preadaptation. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [adjective] > adaptation > pre-adaptation preadapted1880 preadaptive1906 preadaptational1933 1933 Science 15 Dec. 541/2 We must regard such preadaptational mutations as a prerequisite for the spreading of a species into new areas with different conditions, which would be inaccessible to the original form. 1944 G. G. Simpson Tempo & Mode in Evol. vi. 188 The preadaptational axiom that animals enter a new environment simply because they can. 1976 Q. Rev. Biol. 51 116/1 The ‘neodarwinists’ find here no preadaptational mystery, and see in lichens..examples of natural selection having achieved high adaptedness via combining preexisting genetic endowments. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1868 |
随便看 |
|
英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条,基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法,是英语学习的有利工具。