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adaptive radiation
noun
, Biology.
- the diversification of an ancestral group of organisms into a variety of related forms specialized to fit different environments or ways of life, each often further diversifying into more specialized types.
adaptive radiation
noun
- evolution of a number of divergent species from a common ancestor, each species becoming adapted to occupy a different environment. This type of evolution occurred in the Tertiary manuals and the Mesozoic reptiles
adaptive radiation
/ ə-dăp′tĭv /
- The evolutionary diversification of a species or single ancestral lineage into various forms that are each adaptively specialized to a specific environmental niche. Adaptive radiation generally proceeds most rapidly in environments where there are numerous unoccupied niches or where competition for resources is minimal.
- See Note at adaptation
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Word History and Origins
Origin of adaptive radiation1
First recorded in 1900–05
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