Talk:Maladaptation

Mal-acclimation

Isn't the third example one of mal-acclimation, as opposed to maladaption? Remove or mention mal-acclimation... (which I don't think is a proper term anyway)

Yeah, I don't know... the examp,es are not very good. The concept itself has suufered from knee-jerk treatment throughout its history, I have revised the antibiotics example which was previously equalling maladaptation = lack of adaptation which obviously is BS. Dysmorodrepanis 21:37, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

The statement "humans would believe the fat dodos good to eat and hunt them, or simply kill them for fun because of their funny appearance and awkward movements." in the article seems to contradict statements made in Dodo#Extinction —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.150.19.52 (talk) 04:25, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Diabetes and Obesity

A primary example of maladaptation would be the thousands of years humans have spent living under famine. Our tongues have grown to enjoy high sugar and high fat foods as a means to encourage our bodies to consume high calorie foods and to store energy as adipose tissue "for later" when there is no food around to supplement our diets. However, in many societies today, because of our stable economies and decent agricultural foundations, famine is rarely seen. BUT - we still have the inclination to consume these (what are deemed as unhealty) foods. Thus diseases such as type two diabetes and obesity are poppping up all over the world in industrialized/stablized countries. AND on top of that a good portion of the american population does not have a job that requires much physical exertion... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sallisandra (talk • contribs) 22:15, 10 January 2007 (UTC).

I think you should try to dig up a review on this from some scientific journal to source it, and add that. It beats the examples hitherto provided hands down. Dysmorodrepanis 21:37, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

There is a discussion of this in Biology (Campbell & Reece) in the chapter on Animal Nutrition if you want a reference. Richard001 10:44, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

General Suggestions

1. The sentence- "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." - is poorly worded. Its a little confusing and hard to understand. I would revise it as- "This is because adaptations can become less appropriate over time, causing them to become more of a negative factor than a positive one."

2. The sentence- "It is a term used when discussing both humans and animals..." seems too narrow. I think it should also include basic organisms such as bacteria, plants, etc. as well, since maladaptations can occur in more than just humans and animals.

3. Need more examples: Perhaps include any studies or experiments on maladaptations. Maybe add extra modern information- Are there any leads as to how specific types occur? Are there any prevalent maladaptations that affect us or any species of animal we interact with on a daily basis?

Rummer.17 (talk) 00:44, 1 October 2014 (UTC)