What are Some Classical Examples of Local Adaptation?
Adaptation is a change in a trait as a response to selection. As you ask for local adaptation I assume you want examples where sub-populations have either come under different selection and adapted differently, or cases where sub-populations have come under similar selection but not all have had the necessary genetic variation to evolve, i.e. selection has caused differentiation between sub-populations. Local adaptation can lead to varying degrees of divergence, so some for some examples it may be worth exploring speciation events. Here's some examples:

Galapagos Tortoises

There are two general shapes to the shell of tortoises on the Galapagos Islands. On islands with little low-lying vegetation the tortoises seem to have evolved long necks &amp; limbs and different shell shapes which allow them to reach up more easily.


  "The shell distortion and elongation of the limbs and neck in saddlebacks is probably an evolutionary compromise between the need for a small body size in dry conditions and a high vertical reach for dominance displays."


Silent Crickets

Marlene Zuk has some very famous work on crickets that evolved to be silent on a Hawaiian island where parasitic flies were using the call as a targeting method. It's a great example of rapid adaptation occurring under observation in the wild. During the 1990's the population of crickets was in decline as a result of parasitism. At some point a mutation arose where the crickets no longer produced song, and this allele spread rapidly and cricket numbers bounced back strongly.

Other possible examples. Some of these are not "classical examples" but serve as interesting examples nonetheless.


Peppered moth colouration in response to the industrial revolution
Sickle cell anaemia and Malaria
Artificial selection in crops, livestock, and domesticated animals
Darwin's Finches
Antibiotic resistance in diseases; resitance to pesticides and herbicides; resistance to diseases unique to/more prevelant in sub-populations
Seasonal and continuous breeding by species present in both temperate and tropical climates
The Stephens Island Wren adapted to life without predators, and then failed to adapt to life with predators
Barn owl colouration across Europe
Predator-prey co-evolutionary dynamics as demonstrated by Guppies in Trinidad and Tobago
Drosophila melanogaster and adaptation to starch and maltose based foods
Adaptation to different salinity across gradients in marine organisms