Adaptation
Mar 27, 2015
A special trait that helps an organism
survive.
Amphibian
A cold-blooded vertebrate that spends part of its life in water and part of its life on
land.
Arthropod
An invertebrate with jointed legs and a body
that is divided into sections.
An adaptation by which an animal can hide by
blending in with its surroundings.
Class
A smaller group within a phylum. Classes are
made up of smaller groups called orders.
Cold-blooded
An animal that cannot control its body temperature.
Community
The living part of an ecosystem.
Consumer
Any organism that eats the food producers
make, or that eats other consumers.
Decomposer
An organism that breaks down wastes and the
remains of other organisms.
Ecology
The study of how living and nonliving
things interact.
Ecosystem
The living and nonliving things in an environment, and all their interaction.
Endoskeleton
An internal supporting structure.
Exoskeleton
A hard covering that protects an
invertebrate’s body.
Extinct
An organism no longer alive on Earth.
Family
A smaller group of organisms within a class.
Food Chain
The set of steps in which organisms get the food they need to survive.
Genus
A group made up of two or more very similar
species.
Habitat
The home of an organism.
Herbivore
A consumer that eats only plants.
Invertebrate
An animal without a backbone.
Kingdom
The largest group into which an organism can be
classified.
Mammal
A warm-blooded vertebrate with hair or fur.
Omnivore
A consumer that eats both plants and
animals.
Order
A smaller group within a class.
Organism
A living thing that carries out five basic life functions
on its own.
Overpopulation
A depletion of resources that occurs when too many of at least one kind of living
thing inhabits an ecosystem.
Population
One type of organism living in an area.
Phylum
A large group within a kingdom.
Producer
An organism, such as a plant, that makes food.
Reptile
A cold-blooded vertebrate that lives on land and has
a backbone, an endoskeleton, and
waterproof skin with scales or plates.
Species
The smallest group into which an organism is
classified.
Trait
A characteristic of a living thing.
Vertebrate
An animal with a backbone.
Warm-blooded
An animal with a constant body temperature.