Adaptations
By: Simin Bhayani
What are adaptations?
Adaptations help organisms survive in their ecological habitats or niches. There are 3 types of adaptations: physiological, physical or anatomical, and behavioral.
- Physiological adaptations are adaptions that help with abilities, such as making venom or temperature regulations.
- Physical, or anatomical, adaptations are physical features on organisms.
- Behavioral adaptations are adaptations that can be inherited or learned.
Types of Adaptations
Types of Physiological Adaptations
- Cold tolerant- This is where animals are dealing with low temperatures. Many, hibernate, take shelter, or migrate to warmer places. Plants in the Arctic are usually small and they grow pretty low to the ground, and can be protected with coatings of wax and hair. Antarctic seals have a thick layer of blubber to help them keep warm.
- Fire Tolerant- These are the organisms that benefit from forest or bush fires. If there is a fire and organisms are fleeing from it, then birds or other fire tolerant animals are able to catch them. Some plants are totally dependent on flames to open their seed capsules or trigger germination. Gopher tortoises depend on forest fires to clear their habitat of scrub and make room for edible plants to grow.
- Attitude tolerant- This is where organisms are adapted to living in high places where oxygen levels for animals and carbon dioxide levels are low. Snow leopards are adopted to their harsh environments in cold, mountainous areas.
- Chemical tolerant- This is where organisms can tolerate high concentrations of substances which are toxic to other organisms. Flamingos can tolerate the waters of soda lakes and the brine flies that live in salt flats.
Types of Physical Adaptations
- Camouflage- This is where organisms try to stay hidden and not get caught from other animals. Color is a big factor in camouflaging. Body shapes can also make the organisms appear to be some other object that looks like something else in the environment. Patterns can sometimes disguise an animal. A stick insect blends in with the trees around it so that it won't be eaten.
- Webbed feet are primarily used for paddling through water. Webbed feet are also useful on land also because they help the animal easily walk on mud. Ducks have webbed feet.
- Fur helps insulate the body by insulating the body by trapping air. Most fur made of hollow hairs, which traps and warms air. A polar bear, for example, lives in the Arctic and has fur to help keep warm.
- Feathers are adaptations that only birds have. They keep birds warm and sometimes dry. They also, of course, help them fly. Sometimes, when feathers fall, they are used to build nests.
Types of Behavioral Adaptations
- Language is a way of communicating. Many animals make sounds when they sense danger from different types of animals. Monkeys have a different language for different animals.
- Learning is a way of picking up new skills. Many learning skills in animals is done by observing, and trial and error. Bears have to learn to catch fish in a strong current.
- Culture is a social skill passed down from generation to generation. For example, some pods of killer whales beach themselves to catch seals.
- Tool use is when organisms use tools to help them do something that they need. For example, crows use twigs and feathers.
Arctic seal
They have a thick layer of blubber to help the keep warm.
Gopher tortoise
They depend on forts fires to clear their habitat of scrub and make room for edible plants to grow.
Flamingoes
They can tolerate the waters of soda lakes and the brine flies that live in the salt lakes.
Duck
They have webbed feet to paddle through the water and so that they can easily walk on mud.
Polar bears
They have fur that helps keep them warm.
Birds
Birds have feathers to help them fly and keep them dry and warm.
Monkeys
They have a different call for every dangerous animals to warn other monkeys.
Killer whales
They sometimes beach themselves to catch seals.
Crows
They can use tools to help them get food and survive.