Definition of "spandrels" []

• Plural form of spandrel. (noun)

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• "As for their "famous 'spandrels' argument," I and others have refuted it in numerous places, including these pages [4] George Williams originally noted that some traits are not adaptations but by-products of adaptations ( "spandrels"), and proposed ways of telling them apart."
• "In the spandrels are a series of deeply-sunk and moulded quatrefoils, two of which contain sculpture."
• "Gould and Lewontin argued that many of the characteristics of organisms are what they called "spandrels", not adaptations."