Adaptations

Types of Adaptation
 Anything that helps an organism survive in
its environment
 Adaptations are inherited from their parents
 It also refers to the ability of living things to
adjust to different conditions within their
environments.
 Structural adaptation
 Behavioral adaptations
 Physiological adaptations
 Structural adaptations
 A structural adaptation involves
some part of an organism's body.
 Teeth
 Body coverings
 Shells
 Quills
 Scales
 Camouflage
 Mimicry
 Example of Adaptation
 The shape of an
animal’s teeth is
related to its diet.
 Herbivores, such as
deer, have many
molars for chewing
tough grass and
plants.
 Carnivores, such as
lions, have sharp
canines to kill and tear
meat.
Camouflage
 Camouflage allows
an animal to blend
into its environment.
 Makes it hard for
enemies to single out
individuals
 Mimicry
 Mimicry allows one
animal to look,
sound, or act like
another animal to fool
predators into
thinking it is
poisonous or
dangerous.
 Plant Adaptations
 Vascular-stems
 Root systems
 Thorns
 Leave type
 Broad:absorb more
sunlight
 Small needle-like:
reduce water loss
 Waxy: reduce water
loss, protect from
fire
 Poisonous/toxins
Behavioral adaptations
 Behavior adaptations
include activities or
behaviors that help an
animal survive.
1. Innate
2. Learned
3. Survival
4. Seasonal
 Innate vs. Learned
Innate Learned
 Inherited through the  Learned from

genes experience or from

 Examples observing other
 Flying for bees, birds animals
 Swimming for fish  Examples

 Walking for humans  Type of language

 Speaking for humans spoken for humans
 Riding a bicycle
 Survival Behavior
1. Finding food
 Predator-Prey adaptations

 Predator-animals that eat other animals

 Prey-animal being eaten

2. Marking Territory
 Way that animals inform other animals that an area is
occupied
3. Defensive Action
 Protect resources, themselves, food, mates, offspring
4. Courtship
 Behaviors used to find a mate
5. Parenting
 Depend on parents for survival
 Animal Defense

 Some animals use

these methods of
defense to protect
themselves:
 Camouflage
 Snake

 Mimicry
 Mexican Milk Snake

 Bright colors
 Skunk and Poison
Arrow Frog
 “Hair” projections
 Hedgehog quills

 Deer Antlers
 Seasonal Behavior
 Help organisms adapt to the
environment
1. Migration

2. Hibernation

3. Estivation

4. Biological Clock
 Migration
 Adaptation that  Animals migrate for
involves an animal or different reasons.
group of animals
moving from one  better climate

region to another and  better food

then back again.  safe place to live

 safe place to raise young

 go back to the place they

were born.
 Hibernation
 Period of inactivity in which animal’s body
temp., heart rate, and breathing rate slow
down to conserve energy.
 Bats, woodchucks & bears.
 Estivation
 Period of inactivity in the summer
 hot, dry places
 Snakes, lizards, frogs, toads
 Biological Clock
 Internal control of animal’s natural
cycle
Physiological Adaptations
 Behaviors controlled by the brain
 Reflexes
 Blinking
 Pain
 Swallowing
 Tolerance to a certain poison
 Logical thinking
 Mammals

 warm-blooded
 All have some type of
“hair”
 Some are very
specialized, such as
white polar bear fur
 Care for young
 Birds

 Leg Length
 Roseate Spoonbill
(top right)
 Foot Webbing
 Laughing Gull
(top left)
 Beak Shape
 Long Billed Curlew
(bottom)
 Reptiles

 cold- blooded
 Scales
 Some undergo
hibernation and
estivation
 Lay eggs on land
 Leg structure and
position
 Amphibians

 Cold-blooded
 Lay eggs in water
 Partially of fully
webbed feet
 Have lungs or can
absorb oxygen
through their skin
 Natural Selection
and
Population Changes
Over Time
 Natural Selection
 The process by which individuals are
better adapted to their environment
 “Survival of the Fittest”
 The fittest survive to pass on their
traits to the next generation. http://www.vtaide.
com/png/bird-
 Examples: adaptations3.htm

 Insecticide resistance
 Speciation
 Galapagos finches
Insecticide Resistance Speciation
 Genetics: what is it?
 What is genetics?
 “Genetics is the study of heredity, the process
in which a parent passes certain genes onto
their children.”

 What does that mean?

 Children inherit their biological parents’ genes
that express specific traits, such as some
physical characteristics, natural talents, and
genetic disorders.
 Cell to DNA
nucleus
chromosome

cell

base pair
(double
helix)
DNA

genes
 Genetic Concepts
 Heredity describes how some traits are
passed from parents to their children.
 The traits are expressed by genes,
which are small sections of DNA that are
coded for specific traits.
 Genes are found on chromosomes.
 Humans have two sets of 23
chromosomes—one set from each
parent.
 Genetic Variation
 Differences that
exist naturally
among the
members of a
species
 Some traits are
better suited than
others to survive in
their environment
I can explain how genetic
variations within a population help
an organism survive longer.
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