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Curator’s Choice
Form and Function:
A Tribute to Adolf Seilacher
Innovative Adaptations
Scyphocrinites sp.
Upper Silurian, Morocco
YPM 202267
Purchased for the Yale Peabody
Museum by Dr. Seilacher
| Most of the great diversity of form that we see in the animal kingdom is the result of adaptation. An adaptation is a trait or group of traits that increases an organism’s chances of survival. Adaptation allows organisms to function well in the environment in which they live. However, the range of variation in form is limited by the basic body plan of the organism (jellyfish cannot develop legs and run around like a beetle) and by the materials available (such as the properties of a shell). Dr. Seilacher often uses unusual extinct organisms as examples to unravel the different factors that influence the evolution of form. Natural selection favors variations that make an animal more likely to survive. Over the course of geologic history, some animals evolve to flourish in a very narrow range of conditions. When these conditions change extinction could result. |