adaptation, in biology, has several meanings. It can mean the adjustment of living matter to environmental conditions and to other living things either in an organism's lifetime (physiological adaptation) or in a population over many many generations (evolutionary adaptation). The word can also refer to a trait that is considered an adaptation. The ability to adapt is a fundamental property of life and constitutes a basic difference between living and nonliving matter.

Most living things require free oxygen from the air or from water, but yeasts, many bacteria, and some other simple forms obtain the oxygen required for oxidation from molecules of substances that contain the element. Various animals and plants are adapted for securing their food and for surviving the extremes of temperature and of water supply in desert, tropical, and polar regions. For most organisms the optimum temperature is between about 20°C; (68°F;) and 40°C; (104°F;). Some algae algae (ăl`jē) [plural of Lat. alga=seaweed], a large and diverse group of primarily aquatic plantlike organisms.
..... Click the link for more information. and protozoans protozoan (prō'təzō`ən), informal term for the unicellular heterotrophs of the kingdom Protista .
..... Click the link for more information. live in hot springs, and some bacteria bacteria [pl. of bacterium], microscopic unicellular prokaryotic organisms characterized by the lack of a membrane-bound nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. Once considered a part of the plant kingdom, bacteria were eventually placed in a separate kingdom, Monera .
..... Click the link for more information. can survive freezing or survive on chemicals, without light, in the ocean depths. Cacti can survive heat and drought. Certain fish and other aquatic animals live in deep water and are so specialized to withstand the great pressure that they burst if lifted to sea level.

Animals show anatomical adaptations—e.g., the body of the fish is suited to life in the water; the body of the bird is adapted for flight; and the land mammals show a wide variation in the structure of limbs and body that enables some to run swiftly, some to climb, some to swing from tree to tree, some to glide through the air, and others to jump. The whale, an aquatic mammal, can adjust to great pressure changes at different levels in the water. The beaks of birds vary in shape and size according to what they feed on—e.g., on seeds, on insects, on aquatic animals, or on small mammals. The feet and legs of birds also show modifications that fit them for perching, for wading, or for paddling through the water. Adaptive coloration is observed in many animals (see protective coloration protective coloration, coloration or color pattern of an animal that affords it protection from observation either by its predators or by its prey. The most widespread form of protective coloration is called cryptic resemblance, in which various effects that
..... Click the link for more information. ). Among communal insects, such as ants and honeybees, the individuals are highly adapted to perform their functions in the community.

It is believed by many scientists that life originated in the sea and that through gradual evolutionary changes some forms became adapted to life on land. Variations may arise as a result of mutation mutation, in biology, a sudden, random change in a gene , or unit of hereditary material, that can alter an inheritable characteristic. Most mutations are not beneficial, since any change in the delicate balance of an organism having a high level of adaptation to its
..... Click the link for more information. , or of recombinations of the genes in the germ cells. Such variations are inherited (see genetics genome, or characteristic set of genes, that contains the total genetic information for an individual organism. In many familiar organisms two genes for each trait are present in each individual, and these paired genes, both governing the same trait, are called

alleles.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Those that aid the organism to meet the conditions of a changing environment or help it in its competition with other living things enable it to survive and reproduce, the changes thus being passed on from one generation to another and in this way perhaps producing a new species.

See ecology ecology, study of the relationships of organisms to their physical environment and to one another. The study of an individual organism or a single species is termed autecology; the study of groups of organisms is called synecology.
..... Click the link for more information. ; evolution evolution, concept that embodies the belief that existing animals and plants developed by a process of gradual, continuous change from previously existing forms. This theory, also known as descent with modification, constitutes organic evolution.
..... Click the link for more information. ; selection selection. In Darwinism , the mechanism of natural selection is considered of major importance in the process of evolution . Popular formulations sometimes envisage a struggle for existence in which direct competition for mates or for various factors in the
..... Click the link for more information. .

adaptation

In biology, the process by which an animal or plant becomes fitted to its environment. It is the result of natural selection acting on inherited variation. Even simple organisms must be adapted in many ways, including structure, physiology, and genetics; movement or dispersal; means of defense and attack; and reproduction and development. To be useful, adaptations must often occur simultaneously in different parts of the body.

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adaptation

adaptation