ADAPTATIONS

SOMETHING AN ORGANISM DOES or HAS that helps them

to SURVIVE

STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS

   involves some part of an organism’s body

   helps escape from enemies    helps animals move    helps animals catch food    protects it from harsh environment

FEEDING

·      teeth help chew and eat different kinds of food

incisors canines molarsbeaks special mouth parts

INCISORS two pairs of sharp front teeth –

found in rodents such as the beaver, rat, and chipmunk

work like scissors to chew and gnaw wood

the rodent’s teeth keep growing

MOLARS

  flat teeth along the sides of the mouth

  crush and grind tough plant materials

  sheep and cows have these kind of teeth

CANINES a pointed tooth between the incisors

and premolars of a mammal seen in meat-eating animals such as

lions and wolves   the teeth are useful in killing prey   they use these sharp teeth to tear off

chunks of flesh   these animals usually have small

molars

INSECTS   have specialized mouth parts for

feeding   the butterfly has a long tube-like

mouth that it can coil and uncoil – this helps them reach nectar that is in flower

BIRDS   bills or beaks are adapted to

eating seeds, fruits or animals

MOVEMENT   Ability to hop, run, climb, jump or

fly   Body structure aids in movement

GIBBONS   Lives in the forest of Asia   Spend the majority of their time

in the trees   Long, powerful arms that swing

from branches and gather fruit   Clumsy on the ground

CHEETAH   Carnivore that lives in Africa   Catches prey (antelope) with its

speed   Light build and long legs – long

stride   Flexible backbone – stretches and

shortens like a spring   100 km/hour

FRIGATE BIRD

  unable to walk and awkward on land   masterful flier   pilots have seen them at an altitude of

1,200m   without landing, they travel 1,600 km in

search of food   hover like a humming bird and swoop like

a hawk   wing span of 2.5 meters   wing feathers are 30 cm long

KANGAROOS   plant eaters that hop about on

powerful legs (hind)   takes leaps of 10m or more   helps to escape wild dogs or other

enemies   rabbits and frogs have similar hind

legs   hind legs of hopping animals are

longer than their front legs

BODY COVERINGS   worms and amphibians breathe

through their skin   dusky salamander does not have

lungs. It breathes through its skin

REPTILES   have scales or horny plates   prevent loss of water

                      

   

MAMMALS   may shed hair as summer

approaches and grow thicker coats of hair in the fall

LOOKS THAT PROTECTstructural adaptations that involve appearance

PROTECTIVE COLORATION animal is hard to see so it’s harder to

be hunted by its enemies it makes the animal a successful hunter animal has similar color to that of its

environmentChameleon - a tree dwelling lizard found in Asia

and Africa changes color to match its surrounding; have special color cells with black, yellow and red pigments

Chameleon Thorny Devil

Protective Coloration

LOOKS THAT PROTECT –cont.

Seasonal Changes-snow shoe hare is white in winter and

brownish in summer-when it is white bobcat has difficulty

hunting it

Snow shoe hare has a light coat of reddish brown hair in summer AND thick coat of grayish white hair in winter

Protective Resemblance

-animal look similar to something in its environment walking stick, leaf bug

Walking Stick bug Malaysian Horned

Frog.

Mimicry-harmless animals benefit by looking poisonous or dangerous-monarch butterfly and viceroy

The back of the hawkmoth caterpillar (Hemeroplanes sp.) looks like a snake's head

When you're easy pickings for any number of predators the ability to turn yourself into a snake is a handy one. And that's what the snake mimic hawkmoth caterpillar appears to be able to do. When threatened it will pull in its legs and head and expand the back part of its body to make itself resemble a snake. This snake's head is actually the tail of the caterpillar.

BEHAVIOR ADAPTATIONS an adaptation can also be

something that an animal does activities and actions of an animal any activity that helps an animal

survive some behaviors are learned-   wolf pups learn to hunt by imitating

adult wolves

INSTINCT any behavior pattern that an

animal is born with - examples are nest building and

the raising of young blue jays build its nest with small sticks and

lines the inside of the nest with roots from small plants

MIGRATION

movement of an animal or group of animals from one region to another

often related to a change in seasonBREEDING GROUNDS a journey to better feeding grounds to reproduce and raise their young

Insects - Monarchs migrate to follow the milkweed

ARCTIC TERN Makes the longest journey of any

bird During the summer it breeds in

Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Northern Europe and Asia

They fly over oceans to reach Antarctica for the Antarctic summer

GRAY WHALE summers spent in the Bering Sea,

north and west of Alaska fall they migrate to Baja, California Alaska fur seal has a similar

pattern

WILDEBEEST Grazing animals that migrate in search

of water Live part of the year on the plains in East

Africa Dry season begins in June A 300 KM journey takes them to a region

where water can be found They return to the plains in December

for the rainy season

HIBERNATION An animal’s body temperature drops to

about the temperature of the environment

Does not drop lower than the freezing point of water

Breathing and heartbeat become very slow

The animal lives off the fat stored in its body

COLD-BLOODED ANIMALS An animal whose body temperature changes

as the temperature of the environment changes – snails, amphibians, and reptiles

Many animals hibernate in the mud In the fall, turtles and frogs bury themselves

in the mud at the bottom of a lake or pond Spotted salamanders hibernate in wood Snakes hibernate in dens. The den may be a

hole in the ground under a large rock.

WARM BLOODED ANIMALS Have a fairly consistent body

temperature – woodchuck, chipmunks, bears, raccoons, and skunks