Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T08:35:31.228Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

When is a trait an adaptation?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2003

Sergio M. Pellis
Sergio M. Pellis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta 3M4 T1K, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The authors outline research strategies that may identify the possible adaptive value of a trait. But this does not solve the problem of how to decide which characteristics of living organisms require an adaptive explanation. I suggest that knowledge of the ontogenetic and phylogenetic construction of a trait facilitates the identification of features that may have been acted on by natural selection.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , August 2002 , pp. 524
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)