Adaptation

An adaptation is a trait of an organism that is maintained or spread by either natural selection or indirect selection. Such a characteristic does so by confering a higher inclusive fitness than other available analogous characteristics in other individuals in a population The process of adaptation is the evolutionary modification of a character for efficient or advantageous (fitness-enhancing) functioning. Consistent with these definitions, adaptations can be physiological, behavioral or morphological features of organisms that enable them to survive and reproduce effectively.