Adaptations

Adaptations

-Behavioural adaptations

-Structural adaptations

Adaptations

Coping with physical factors

Obtaining food

Escaping predators

Reproduction

Adaptations for coping with physical factors of environment

• Temperature

• Light

• Water– Moving– Breathing– Getting enough water– Reducing water loss

Adaptation: Thick fur and underwool

Function: Provide warmth during cold desert nights and insulation against daytime heat

Camels sweat only when their body temperature reaches 40° C.

Their kidneys produce urine with low water content.

Their dung is also very dry.

Polar bears live in the Arctic

A polar bear's coat can be from white to yellowish in color.

ADAPTATIONS

Polar bears are able to swim in the icy Arctic Ocean without freezing. They have thick coat of fur and a layer of fat under their skin. When bears comes out of the water they shake the water off their coats.

Polar bears are good swimmers. They paddle with their front legs and use their hind legs as rudders.

The polar bear has a very good sense of smell and can sniff dead animals from far away

The polar bear's huge teeth are for tearing the prey apart.

The bear's large feet are like snowshoes. The hair on the soles of its feet help the bear walk on the slippery ice and snow. The bear walks with toes pointing inward to avoid slipping.

ADAPTATIONS FOR MOVEMENT

When aquatic animals move through water, they need to overcome a force so that they can move easily through water.

This force is also called water resistance.

For example, sharks have fins, streamlined bodies, and sharp teeth that enable them to swim quickly and catch food in the ocean.

The shark’ s body is streamlined or narrow at both ends and wide in the middle. This helps the shark to overcome the force that opposes its motion as it moves through the water.

DO YOU KNOW THEIR NAMES?

duckweedwater hyacinth water lettuce

cabomba arrowhead sedge

Adaptations of Land Plants

Adaptation for Trapping Sunlight

• Strong woody stems to hold the leaves to capture the maximum sunlight.

Adaptations of Land Plants

Adaptation for Trapping Sunlight

• Weak stems to reach for sunlight.

Climbers – Cling onto supports

Eg. Twining Stems : morning glory

Clasping Roots : Orchid, money plant

Tendrils : Passion fruit

Adaptations of Water Plants

• Air spaces

• Waxy or hairy layer

• Thin and light roots

Features of Water Hyacinth

Features of Water Hyacinth

Features of Water Moss Fern

Features of Water Moss Fern

• Heart-shaped leaves that forms a V-shape for floating.

• Hairs on the upper surface to trap air to make the leaves waterproof.

Many aquatic animals have modified limbs to help them to move in water.

toad

seal

Water boatman

ADAPTATIONS FOR FLIGHT

Hollow but strong bones that reduce their body weight – makes flying easier.

Streamlined body – helps to overcome the force that opposes their motion when they fly in the air.

Feathers to keep their flight muscles warm and ready for flying.

Small pointed beak - pecking in the ground for its prey.

Short sharp claws – digging in the ground for its prey.

Sharp, hooked beak – tearing its prey

Broad wings and powerful flight muscles – flying in the sky

Long sharp claws – gripping its prey.

ADAPTATIONS FOR BREATHING IN WATERAquatic animals have to breathe in oxygen that is dissolved in water.

These animals breathe through gills.

These animals have gill chambers to store water. When they are on land, they can use the oxygen from the water stored in the gill chambers.

These aquatic insects have air tubes which stick out above the water surface to get oxygen.

The water spider and water beetle have adapted wings, legs or hairy bodies to trap air bubbles.

SEAL

DUGONG

These mammals have nostrils at the tip of their snouts. They push their nostrils above the water surface to breathe

The whale and dolphin have special blowholes on top of their heads. They can breathe even when most of the body is underwater.

Adaptations for obtaining food

• Gathering food

• Eating food

Look at the teeth in the two dinosaur skulls below. One set of teeth is

adapted to tear off chunks of flesh, while the other is adapted to grind

up thick vegetation before swallowing. Can you figure out

which is which?

Teeth

A nestling Barred Owl's beak

Short, thick, curved, pointed beaks of hawks, falcons, and owls, adapted for ripping flesh.

Beaks

Long, very slender beaks of hummingbirds, shown below, used for inserting into narrow-throated blossoms

Short, wide beaks, sometimes with hooked tips, like that of the Vermilion Flycatcher shown at the right, are good for catching and holding onto flying insects. The amazing picture by Dan Sudia at the left is that of a Lesser Nighthawk. Notice the bumps inside this bird's wide, short-beaked mouth. Those bumps are actually backward-pointing in such a way that they help the bird hold onto its food, and keep the food moving in the right direction. Actually most bird mouths are equipped with similar protuberances.

Beaks

Short, slender beaks adapted for probing into tight places such as bark fissures on tree trunks where small insects, spiders, and other creatures might be wedged; found among warblers, vireos, kinglets, gnatcatchers, and others such as the Tufted Titmouse.

Short, stubby, but powerful beaks adapted for grinding small seeds, found among sparrows, finches, juncos, and others, such as the Evening Grosbeak.

Fairly long, thick, chisel-like beaks of woodpecker adapted for drilling wood and chipping away tree bark and even for drilling into the tree's inner bark, as shown on the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Beaks

Plus, there are all kinds of specialized beaks such as the one shown on the White Pelican. The pelican will crash into the water and come up with a fish in its beak. It may flip the fish in the air and catch in again, with a more secure hold, and then swallow it. As the fish goes down you might see that the beak's bottom part is somewhat baggy. It's sort of like a leather bag that can expand if there's a big fish in it. You've seen in cartoons how pelicans have incredibly big pouches in which they can place their suitcases. In real life the pouches aren't as big, but they certainly can expand to hold a big fish. 

Adaptations for escaping predators

• Hiding

• Living in groups

• Defending themselves

• Warning colours/patterns

• Moving quickly away from danger

• Camouflage

• Appearing to look like another organism

Am I cute? Yes, I bet! I’m suppose to camouflage with the

grass but I’m enlarged and will not look like now...

Cryptic coloration is a type of camouflage that:

•makes potential prey difficult to spot

•allows an organism to become less distinguishable from its background

•is a camouflage defense mechanism.

•makes it less vulnerable to predation.

Examples of Cryptic coloration

An example is the Biston betularia, or peppered moth. It comes in colours, from dark black to white.

White moths blend with the snow-capped trees during winter while they lie vulnerable on it.

The black ones blend into the trees covered with soot from the nearby industries

The act of hiding is a behavioral adaptation. Examples: The tortoise, snail and mussels simply go into hiding in their shells when they feel threatened.

Mice hide in their holes and rabbits hide in their burrows.

Some animals live in groups for a better chance of survival. A predator would find it more harder to attack an animal in a group compared to attacking a solitary one.

Living together is a behavioral adaptation. Examples: Animals like the deer and sheep live more safely in groups.

This is a kind of structural adaptation. Some animals are brightly colored so that predators will know that they are poisonous, or can sting, or just taste bad. The coral snake has bright red and yellow patterns. Poisonous frogs come in many different colors.

The bright colours of this Yellow-winged Darter dragonfly serve as a warning to predators of its noxious taste.

Animals may produce or release substances or matter to defend themselves. This is called chemical defence.

I release sharp quills when I feel

threatened.

I release a foul-smelling gas that would turn my predator black.

Some animals have adaptations that allow them to move quickly away from danger. A squid forces out a jet of water to help it swim away quickly from its predators.

Strong, muscular legs

Some animals may camouflage themselves by imitating the color and pattern of their surroundings. Some animals may have bodies that look like objects or plant parts.

A Leaf Insect.

A stick insect.

A camouflaged tiger.

How does Cryptic Colouration help an organism?

It makes the organism less distinguishable from its background.

Give an example of an organism which uses Cryptic Colouration to hide from its predators.

The Biston Betularia, or Peppered Moth.

Explain why some animals live in groups rather than alone.

It is for a better chance of survival. Predators find it harder to attack a herd of animals than those living alone.

Why do some animals have Warning Colours/patterns?

It is to tell their predators that they are poisonous, can sting or just taste bad.

What is Chemical Defence?

It is the production or release of substances or matter for self-defence.

Name me another organism and explain how it camouflages or escapes from its predators.

The Chameleon has a special skin that changes with its background, making it harder to distinguish from where it is. (AMV)

Adaptations for reproduction

• Attracting a mate

• Finding a mate

• Attractive flowers and fruits

• Seed dispersal (flowering plants)

Adaptations of Land Plants

Adaptation for Dispersal By Water : Husk to trap air

By Wind : Wing-like structures, Hair-like structures

By Animals :

Inedible : Stiff-hairs, Hooks

Edible : Juicy flesh, Seeds that pass through the digestive system

Features of Water Plants