Final answer:
Adaptation is a biological process enabling organisms or populations to become better suited to their environment, often as a result of genetic changes and natural selection. This increases their survival and reproductive success, promoting the continuous evolution of the species.
Step-by-step explanation:
Adaptation is a change in the biological structure or life ways of an individual or population by which it becomes better fitted to survive and reproduce in its environment. In biology, adaptation involves an organism or a species becoming better suited to its environment, often due to genetic or evolutionary changes. Such changes can occur when there is genetic variability within a population, enabling some individuals to better withstand environmental changes and, thus, have a higher likelihood of surviving and reproducing.
Examples of adaptations are extremely varied and can range from the heat resistance of Archaea in boiling hot springs to the finely adjusted tongue length of moths which allows them to feed from specific flowers effectively.
As environments change, natural selection plays a key role, ensuring that the characteristics of individuals in a population match those environmental changes, making evolution an ongoing process. This natural selection process can lead to an increase in the allele frequencies favorable for the new environmental conditions, which is an essential aspect of evolution.