Evolution

Adaptation

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Definition

A heritable trait that increases an organism's fitness in its environment, shaped over generations by natural selection.

Detailed Explanation

Adaptations can be structural (a duck's waterproof feathers), physiological (a camel's ability to tolerate dehydration), or behavioral (a bear entering hibernation). They arise over many generations, not within an individual's lifetime. The match between organisms and their environment — a hummingbird's bill perfectly fitting a tubular flower — reflects millions of years of incremental selection.

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