Animal Adaptations
Abbey and Lily
What are adaptions
Every single animal around the world has an adaption. An adaption is something an animal has on it's body or something it does to survive in it's habitat. An animals adaption can be anything from long legs like an emu or having bright colors to warn an animal not to eat it like the poison-arrow frog.
Animals that have adaptions
Siberian Tiger
Siberian Tigers short front legs allow fur coat to insulate heat and loose abdomen skin to reduce the chance of injury when kicked.
Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owls necks have a lot of flexibility for following prey as they move and sharp talons for catching prey on the fly.
African Elephant
The elephants ears are huge. That's because they contain a lot of large veins. When the elephants get hot, all the blood flows to their ears and they fan their ears to cool the blood. Big ears is one of the African Elephants many adaptions.
Adaptations for Living in Water
Wetlands are a place where an animal may live in water. Wetlands are covered entirely for most of the year. Many of the animals that live in a wetland have gills. Gills are like organs. They give the animal oxygen from the water. Some animals like the beaver don't have gills but they have other adaptions that help them survive like their large flat tail which helps them steer through the water.
Adaptations for Living in a Desert
Not much rain falls in the desert. A saguaro catus is one of the many plants and animals that have adaptions for living in the desert. This catus can store water in it's stem. Another animal that has an adaption is the jackrabbit. They stay underground for most of the day. A jackrabbits ears also help them stay cool during the day because the blood flowing through the jackrabbits ears releases extra heat into the air
Adaptations for Living in the Tundra
The tundra is a very cold enviroment. The ground is mostly frozen for most of the year. A seal has a thick layer of fat to keep it warm in the icy waters. Most animals have to migrate over the winter to avoid cold parts of the year. There is not much food to go around during the winter. Other animals hibernate during the winter. Bears and squirrels do this. When an animal hibernates it's body uses less energy and they do not eat or drink. The only plants that grow in the tundra are plants that grow low to the ground where they can trap the warm air.
Adaptations for Living in Grasslands
A lot of rain falls in this environment. These places are still dry because fire can burn easily. Grasslands in North America are called prairies. Some of the plants that live in a grassland have an adaptation that helps them survive a fire like roots that are underground so they can regrow after the part of the plant that is above the ground has been killed.
Adaptations for Living in Forests
Many of the plants that live in a forest have adaptations that help them get sunlight or to survive without a lot of sunlight. Growing tall is an adaptation that helps the oak tree get a lot of sunlight because it is higher than most of the other plants. Some plants such as our state flower the mountain laurel can grow in shady areas. Most animals that live in a forest have adaptations that help them blend in with leaves, twigs or tree bark. Blending in can help an animal hide from predators and can help a predator sneak up on its prey.
Vocab
- Environment - an environment is the total of all things that surround an organism.
- Adaptation - an adaptation is a characteristic of an organism that helps it survive
in its environment.
- Migrate - when an animal migrates, it travels long distances during certain seasons
- Hibernate - when an animal hibernates, its body functions slow down, and the animal
uses less energy.
- Predator - a predator hunts and eats another organism
- Prey - a prey is the organism that another animal eats