No subject

Evelyn Fox Keller & Elisabeth Lloyd,
 "Adaptation, Current uses" by Mary Jane West-Eberhard,

"An 'adaptation' is a characteristic of an organism whose form is the
result of selection in a particular functional context  Accordingly.
the process of 'adaptation' is the evolutionary modification of a
character under selection for efficient or advantageous
(fitness-enhancing) functioning in a particular context....  p.13



David Goodman, Ph.D, M.L.S.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:DGG



On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 1:53 AM, stevertigo<stvrtg at gmail.com> wrote:
> Well-sourced junk that reads like it belongs on Simple En.wiki:
>
> '''Adaptation''' is one of the basic phenomena of
> biology.<ref>Williams, George C. 1966. ''Adaptation and natural
> selection: a critique of some current evolutionary thought''.
> Princeton. "Evolutionary adaptation is a phenomenon of pervasive
> importance in biology." p5</ref> It is the process whereby an organism
> becomes better suited to its [[habitat]].<ref>The ''Oxford Dictionary
> of Science'' defines ''adaptation'' as "Any change in the structure or
> functioning of an organism that makes it better suited to its
> environment".</ref> Also, the term ''adaptation'' may refer to a
> characteristic which is especially important for an organism's
> survival.<ref>Both uses of the term 'adaptation' are recognized by
> King R.C. Stansfield W.D. and Mulligan P. 2006. ''A dictionary of
> genetics''. Oxford, 7th ed.</ref> For example, the adaptation of
> horses' teeth to the grinding of grass, or their ability to run fast
> and escape predators. Such adaptations are produced in a variable
> population by the better suited forms reproducing more successfully,
> that is, by [[natural selection]].
>
> The above will be changed, obviously. Note also the large inline
> <refs> make editing difficult, which in turn lets nonsense writing
> persist. If we can't come up with some better technical means of
> separation - all ref tags under their own invisible section maybe -
> then at least carriage-returns - putting the <ref> on the next line -
> would work well enough. Still showing up the same in view mode, but
> the text can actually be readable in edit mode).
>
> Anyway, working on something unsourced like:
>
> In [[biology]], '''adaptation''' is an observed ''effect'' of the
> process of [[evolution]] =A0&mdash;wherein canonical [[organism]]s
> (species) appear to [[change]] over time to survive more efficiently
> within their [[habitat]]. The concept of adaptation was developed
> before the theory of evolution &mdash;Lamarck had made some
> groundbreaking observations which inspired Darwin. "Adaptation" in
> reality does not refer to changes within individual organisms, but to
> the canonical form of the species &mdash; changes brought about by a
> process of [[natural selection]]. "Adaptation" in the context of
> biology, thus is a largely a colloquialism for natural selection.
>
> -Stevertigo
> Sources available upon request.
>
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