preadaptations

As a result of what Wilson calls “spring-loaded preadaptations,” a primitive form of eusociality was established.

SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011

Yet things become very interesting if the blind watchmaker, whose sole metric is fitness as measured by the immediate context, is credited for crafting so many uncanny preadaptations that would come into play millions of years later.

Bird Teeth 2008

I suspect that such traits were crucial preadaptations for the evolution of true terrestriality in gastropods.

Archive 2006-06-01 AYDIN 2006

Fifth, Darwinian preadaptations - where a causal consequence of a part of an organism of no selective use in the current environment finds a use in a different environment so is selected for a novel function - is both unprestatable, and also yields new, adjacent, possible empty niches that were not selected as niches per se at all.

NPR Topics: News 2011

But for the evolution of the biosphere by ever new causal consequences which may "find some unprestatable use" by Darwinian preadaptations in evolving Kantian wholes that are cells with changing Task Closure, we do not know the relevant variables, so we cannot write down the laws of motion for the evolving biosphere.

NPR Topics: News 2011

I’m familiar with preadaptations Gould calls them exaptations where genes are “inherited” by a species before they are actually adapted to some new purpose, but these genes historically served some other entirely useful purpose.

Catholic Church Supports Neo-Paleyism? - The Panda's Thumb 2005