Biological adaptation is the evolutionary process through which heritable traits that enhance an organism’s fitness become more prevalent in a population over generations under specific environmental conditions. It operates primarily via natural selection acting on genetic variation, including mutations, recombination, and gene flow, and is constrained by developmental, genetic, and phylogenetic factors. Adaptations can be morphological, physiological, or behavioral and are typically characterized by increased survival or reproductive success in a given niche. The process is dynamic and context-dependent, such that traits advantageous in one environment may be neutral or deleterious in another, contributing to diversification and speciation.
Predators and the environment determine why some animals use camouflage to avoid being eaten, while others use bright colors to warn them off, new research reveals. Published today in the journal Science, the findings help ...
Evolution
Sep 25, 2025
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Tunas, billfishes, and some sharks, such as white sharks and shortfin mako sharks, have an ability known as regional endothermy, which allows them to maintain body temperatures higher than the ambient water. This ability ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 25, 2025
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How does a plant manage to quickly adapt its growth to changing environmental conditions? A research team at the University of Freiburg led by plant physiologist Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kleine-Vehn has discovered a previously unknown ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 22, 2025
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Through a collaboration between U.S. and Kenyan researchers and Turkana communities of northern Kenya, scientists have uncovered key genetic adaptations underlying survival in hot and dry environments, revealing how natural ...
Evolution
Sep 18, 2025
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Meerkats genetically adapt to a species-specific form of tuberculosis according to a long-term study by an international research team led by Ulm University. The scientists also found that climate change in the Kalahari Desert ...
Evolution
Sep 10, 2025
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When starved of oxygen during a heart attack or stroke, cells unleash a flurry of emergency measures to protect themselves and the body. For decades, scientists have observed that the body's production of a "three-tailed" ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 8, 2025
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75
How do you cool yourself on a hot day? Perhaps you find shade, switch on a fan or retreat to air conditioning? But spare a thought for tropical forest trees. As the climate warms, they must either adjust to the heat, adapt ...
Ecology
Sep 6, 2025
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In the next 75 years, surface sea temperatures may rise by up to 4°C, with increasingly frequent short-term marine heat waves also predicted. This could cause significant damage to our essential marine ecosystems, for example, ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 4, 2025
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As coral reefs decline at unprecedented rates, new research has revealed that some coral species may be more resilient to warming temperatures than others.
Ecology
Sep 4, 2025
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A study led by Prof. Zhang Daoyuan from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has uncovered the phosphorylation-mediated regulatory mechanisms of desiccation tolerance of Syntrichia ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 2, 2025
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