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The fuzzy zone between exaptation and phenotypic adaptation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2003

Eric Alden Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3100 [email protected] http://faculty.washington.edu/easmith/

Abstract

The target article adopts an adaptationist research strategy that, while logically coherent, suffers from various limitations, including problems in reconstructing past selective environments, ambiguity in how narrowly to define adaptive problems or selection pressures, and an overemphasis on specialization in evolved psychological mechanisms. To remedy these problems, I support a more flexible approach involving phenotypic adaptation and cultural evolution.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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