The rapid evolutionary diversification of a single ancestral species into many new species adapted to different ecological niches. It typically occurs when organisms colonize new environments with many available niches.
From Latin 'adaptare' meaning 'to fit' and 'radiatus' meaning 'furnished with rays or spokes'. The term was coined in the 1940s by paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson to describe how lineages spread out like rays from a central point into different adaptive zones.
Darwin's finches are the poster children for adaptive radiation - one ancestral finch species colonized the Galápagos and evolved into 18 different species with beaks specialized for everything from cracking seeds to drinking nectar! It's like evolution's version of a Swiss Army knife, creating multiple tools from one basic design.
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