If an environment changes, plants & Animals will do 1 of 3 things… 1 Become extinct 2 Move to another environment or location (migrate) 3 Traits change over time (change genetically) Individuals with variations that are favorable in the new environment will survive and reproduce. The population with the favorable variation will increase! ex: Gray moths on gray bark will increase.

Adaptations and the Environment Tutorial: Adaptations and Survival http://lgfl.skoool.co.uk/content/keystage3/biology/pc/learningsteps/ADSLC/launch.html

What is an Adaptation? Adaptations are favorable variations of traits that help an organism better survive in a given environment! Ex: shape of a beak or claw, teeth, antlers, feathers/fur (body coverings), the presence of a tail or movement There are two types of adaptations: 1. Physical Body Structures 2. Behavioral Actions

Examples of Physical Adaptations Structure of Teeth Animals that eat meat, are called Carnivores. Sharp Canine Teeth and Incisors in the top jaw indicate a Carnivore Animals that eat plants, they are called herbivores. Flat Molars and no incisors on the top jaw indicate an Herbivore simplyteeth.com

PHYSICAL ADAPTATIONS Dense Root Structures in Plants Hollow Hair (Allows plants to grow in compacted soil and anchors plants) Hollow Hair (Insulates animals from hot & cold) Like insulation around your home! PHYSICAL ADAPTATIONS

Physical Adaptation: Hollow bones Birds have hollow bones (nothing on the inside) to help them fly. It makes them light enough or less dense to soar through the air.

Desert Plants have small leaves or spines and/or wax coatings to reduce the loss of water from the plant. PHYSICAL ADAPTATIONS

Arctic Animals have short ears, legs, & round bodies to reduce the surface area of their bodies. This reduces the amount of body heat loss. Keeps them warmer!! Physical adaptations

Physical Adaptation: Vision Owls can see at night because of their large eyes.

More physical adaptations Animals with armored plates protect them from predators and harm.

Physical Adaptations of birds Birds and their beaks: beaks allow them to eat. This house finch has a short, stubby beak for eating seeds.

More physical adaptations Hummingbirds long pointed beaks allow them to reach inside the flower for nectar.

More Physical Adaptations The European goldfinch eats insects with its sharp, pointed beak.

Physical Adaptation: Claws Claws, or talons, help animals to catch and eat their food. Red-Tailed Hawk Osprey’s talons

Physical Adaptation: Forked tongues They allow reptiles to smell and to tell which direction the smell is coming from.

Physical Adaptation: Camouflage Where organisms are colored or shaped like their surroundings. This adaptation helps protect organisms from their enemies. On the other hand, camouflage also helps a predator "fit in" to its environment so that it won't be seen very easily as it comes up on its prey. Take the Arctic fox. During summer months, the Arctic fox has a brown coat. During winter, the coat of the Arctic fox is white, matching its icy, snowy surroundings.

More Physical Camouflage Hawkfish changes colors to blend in with their environment.

Even more physical camouflage A tiger uses its stripes to blend into grass, leaves and trees.

Physical Adaptations: Mimicry An adaptation in which an organism is trying to look, act, or sound like another organism to survive (or for their own protection). Like a Copycat!!! Plant mimicking and insects trying to get pollinated. Caterpillar mimicking bird droppings.

Mimicry Monarch (original) Viceroy (imitator) Monarch butterflies are toxic to predators, and you can tell from their bright colors, so the Viceroy mimics the Monarch to protect itself. Monarch (original) Viceroy (imitator)

Mimicry The King Snake tries to imitate the Poisonous Coral Snake.

Behavioral Adaptations: Instinct What does it mean to act on instinct or have an instinct? An instinct occurs naturally – without thinking (sneezing, tripping). It does not have to be taught, it is natural. Animals are born with instincts.

Behavioral Adaptation: INSTINCT Bears or Squirrels hibernate in the winter to escape the cold.

Behavioral Adaptation: Instinct Sea turtles migrate (move somewhere else during a season) – no one tells them to, it is something that naturally happens.

Behavioral Adaptation: Instinct Snakes like the rattlesnake shake their rattles to warn predators to stay away. A snake would rather hide, not attack.

Behavioral Adaptation: Instinct Turtles withdraw their bodies into their shells to hide from predators. Desert Tortoise burrow into the ground to escape the heat during the day time.

Behavioral Adaptation: Instinct Chameleons change color because of their mood, or because they sense a predator nearby.

Acclimation An individual changes in response to the environment over the course of its life. NOT passed on through genes What does it mean to learn something? You are taught it, it is not an instinct. You observe it being done, and then you practice it yourself

Acclimation: Learned Cheetahs watch their mothers to learn how to hunt.

Acclimation: LEARNED Chimpanzees learn sounds in order to communicate with each other.

Wrap it Up….. Adaptations are qualities that help animals to survive in a given environment. There are physical and behavioral adaptations. Physical Adaptations Camouflage helps an animal hide by changing color. Mimicry helps an animal survive by imitating something more dangerous. Behavioral Adaptations Instinct is natural. Acclimation New behavior is learned

The End