Question

Many species of plants and animals adapted to desert conditions probably did not arise there. Their success in living in deserts could be due to ______, structures that originally had one use but became adapted for different functions.

Answer 1

Answer: Exaptations

Explanation:

Exaptation explains a shift in the function of a trait during evolution. For example, a trait can evolve because it is used for one particular function, but eventually it may come to be used foranother function. Exaptations are found both in anatomy and behaviour. A classic example are bird feathers: at first they may have evolved for temperature regulation, but subsequently were adapted for flight. Exaptation was said to proposed by Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba as a substitute for what they considered to be a teleologically loaded term 'pre-adaptation'.[