Evolution: Adaptations By Heather Rowan, edited by Diane Philip

I. Adaptation Definition (formal, scientific): Any heritable behavioral, morphological, or physiological trait that maintains or increases the fitness of an organism under a given set of environmental conditions. Adaptations are the product of natural selection acting on naturally-occurring genetic variation produced by mutations.

II. Types of Adaptations Morphological: camouflage, counter shading, chromatophores, protective resemblance, mimicry, warning colors Physiological: large litters, simultaneous fruiting and spawning, salt secretion in sea birds, hibernation Behavioral: nesting, female choice, long- term mating, decoration

III. Examples Evolution of penicillin resistant bacteria Evolution of pesticide resistant pests The Peppered Moth Vampire finches

IV. Camouflage and Mimicry Camouflage: some organisms have adapted to their environment so that they blend into their surroundings Warning colors help organisms avoid predation by advertizing their toxicity Mimicry: some organisms deceive predators by appearing like another animal

Example of Camoflauge Liu Bolin: Can you tell where he is?

IV. Camouflage and Mimicry Batesian Mimicry: a non-toxic animal copies warning coloration of a poisonous one Müllerian Mimicry: two poisonous species share similar warning colors to maximize the effectivenes

V. Embryology Another way to determine relatedness is to see how similar structures develop in different species.