What is adaptation?

When the environment chances organisms that have preexisting combinations of genetic material suited to the new environment to survive.

A classic example is the peppered moths of England. When the industrial revolution based on coal caused a change in the environment there was a major change in the peppered moth population. The black variety of the moth which previously was a very small part of the population became the dominate form.

When the pollution problem was solved the white variety again became the dominate form. If the pollution problem had not been solved for a long time it is possible that the white variety would have become extinct. The black variety would have become the only form of the peppered moth in existence. Then a chance in the environment would have resulted in the extinction of the peppered moth species.

It is important to note that adaptation can only act on existing combinations of genetic material ( DNA). The failure to adapt leads to extinction. Adaptation does not create new forms of genetic information. Therefore adaptation can not contribute to Neo Darwinian evolution, only the evolution of existing species.

Adaptation is one of the two main processes that explain the observed diversity of species. All adaptations help organisms survive in their ecological niches. The adaptation traits may be structural, behavioural or physiological.

Adaptation allows the species to suit to the environment for better survival in the struggle for existence. It allows the animals to proceed through the evolutionary pathway.

Adaptation is thus the evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes better able to live in its habitat or habitats.