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Vestigial structures are often homologous to structures that are functioning normally in other species. Therefore, vestigial structures can be considered evidence for evolution, the process by which beneficial heritable traits arise in populations over an extended period of time. The existence of vestigial traits can be attributed to changes in ...
Arrows show the vestigial structure called Darwin's tubercle. In the context of human evolution, vestigiality involves those traits occurring in humans that have lost all or most of their original function through evolution. Although structures called vestigial often appear functionless, they may retain lesser functions or develop minor new ones.
Derived traits show significant differences from the original "primitive" condition of an ancestral trait found in the common ancestor, implying that the trait has undergone extensive adaptation during the clade's evolutionary history to reach its derivative condition. Both terms are relative: a derived trait for one clade may be an ancestral ...
A psychological adaptation is a functional, cognitive or behavioral trait that benefits an organism in its environment. Psychological adaptations fall under the scope of evolved psychological mechanisms (EPMs), [2] however, EPMs refer to a less restricted set. Psychological adaptations include only the functional traits that increase the ...
Some of these genes may increase an organism's fitness while some may even be slightly disadvantageous. This seeming paradox is the origin of evolutionary baggage, which is the collectively inherited traits that evolved in a different environment from the present. [2]
Evolutionary biology portal; This article is part of WikiProject Evolutionary biology, an attempt at building a useful set of articles on evolutionary biology and its associated subfields such as population genetics, quantitative genetics, molecular evolution, phylogenetics, and evolutionary developmental biology.
Evolutionary trap – Cases in which an evolved, and presumably adaptive, trait has suddenly become maladaptive; Evolvability – Capacity of a system for adaptive evolution; Exaptation – Function of trait, shifted by evolution; Extinction – Termination of a taxon by the death of its last member
A vestigial response or vestigial reflex in a species is a response that has lost its original function. In humans, vestigial responses include ear perking, goose bumps and the hypnic jerk . In humans