:: Maladaptation ::
A maladaptation is an adaptation that is (or has become)
less helpful than harmful.
It is a term used when discussing
both humans and animals in fields such as
evolutionary biology, biology, psychology
(where it applies to behaviors and other learned survival mechanisms)
and other fields where adaptation
and responsive change may occur.
Like adaptation, it may be viewed as
occurring over geological time,
or within the lifetime of one individual or a group.
It can also signify an adaptation that,
whilst reasonable at the time,
has become less and less suitable and
more of a problem or hinderance in its own right,
as time goes on.
This is because it is possible for an adaptation
to be poorly selected or become less appropriate
or even become on balance more of a dysfunction
than a positive adaptation,
over time.
