the.com/adaptation
evolution's way of admitting the original plan needed a rewrite.
means The process or result of changing something so it fits a new situation, purpose, or environment.
from From Latin 'adaptare,' to fit to — 'ad-' (to, toward) plus 'aptare' (to fit), itself from 'aptus' (fitted, suitable), the same root that gives us 'apt' and 'aptitude.' It entered English through French 'adaptation' in the 1600s, first describing the act of fitting one thing to another; Darwin later borrowed it for biology, and Hollywood borrowed it for everything else.
- eye origins
- Eyes evolved independently dozens of times across species
- cave dwellers
- Some fish abandoned eyes entirely in lightless caves
- slow march
- Most adaptations take thousands of generations to stick
- camel trick
- Their nostrils reclaim moisture from each exhaled breath
darwin's finches — 14 species in galápagos with different beak shapes evolved from common ancestor in ~2 million years
peppered moths — manchester 1848-1950: dark moths increased 98% during industrial revolution, reverted when pollution ended
stickleback fish — freshwater sticklebacks in bc canada lost armor plates in <10,000 years since isolation from ocean