What evolutionary term describes gills co-opted for terrestrial respiration?
Answer
Exaptation
The process where a feature that originally evolved for one specific function is repurposed or co-opted for an entirely different function in a new environment is termed exaptation. In the case of the woodlouse, the ancestral aquatic gills, designed for respiration in water, were transformed into the air-breathing pseudotracheae necessary for survival on land. This is a classic example of exaptation because the underlying structure remained similar (operating much like gills, requiring moisture) but its primary utility shifted from aquatic gas exchange to terrestrial gas exchange, enabling the colonization of a new habitat without evolving a completely novel organ system from scratch.
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