preadaptation

About 0.03 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. noun An adaptation that evolved in an ancestral population, in which it served a different function

Similar words

exaptation counteradaptation hyperadaptation pathoadaptation adaptation pseudoadaptation apomorph pathoadaption spandrel adaptionism

Often followed by

to for and of in is that

Word family

preadaptations preadapted preadaptive