Urban evolutionary ecology brings exaptation back into focus

The term ‘exaptation’ was coined by Gould and Vrba 40 years ago, yet the role that character states which evolved under prior conditions play in novel adaptation to contemporary environments is still a matter of debate.The need to adopt the term ‘exaptation’ was to replace the term ‘preadaptation’, which still persists in the literature and may contribute to confusion of the accurate process by which evolution shapes new character states.The emerging discipline of urban evolutionary ecology provides a new lens for the framework by which exaptation and adaptation interplay in helping us to identify phenotypes that are the result of selective pressures in novel environments.