exaptation

American  

[eg-zap-tey-shuhn, ek-sap-] / ˌɛg zæpˈteɪ ʃən, ˌɛk sæp- /

noun

Biology.

1. a process in which a feature acquires a function that was not acquired through natural selection.

2. a feature having a function for which it was not originally adapted or selected.

3. a morphological or physiological feature that predisposes an organism to adapt to a different environment or lifestyle.

4. predisposition toward adaptation.

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Other Word Forms

• exapted adjective
• exaptive adjective

Example Sentences

That's not an exaptation, where the same structures that let them climb trees are applied to the new setting, but actual evolutionary adaptations.

From Salon

This kind of transfer of an evolutionary adaptation to a new context is called "exaptation."

From Salon

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.

From Scientific American

This process of “exaptation” has now accelerated.

From The New Yorker

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.

From New York Times