Have you ever wondered how animals are able to survive in the wild? Animals have certain adaptations that help them to survive.

Think about the way you dress in the winter. You don’t wear your shorts and bathing suit when it’s snowing outside! You wear warm clothes, and maybe even a hat and mittens to protect yourself from the weather.

And what if you are having a snowball fight? You probably run away from the person throwing at you, and maybe even try to sneak up on that person and throw some snowballs!

The way you dress in the winter, as well as the way that you run and hide from someone throwing snow at you are kinds of … Adaptations.

toad Animal Adaptations

ADAPTATIONS Anything that helps an organism survive in its environment is an adaptation. 

We can separate adaptations into two categories: Structural AND Behavioral

Structural adaptations are body feature that allow an animal to find and consume food, defend itself, and to reproduce its species. Hey! I’m a walking stick. I look just like a stick you’d find on the ground. Structural adaptations help an animal survive in its environment. © A. Weinberg

Structural Adaptation: Protective Coloration / Camouflage Coloration and Protective Resemblance allow an animal to blend into its environment.   Another word for this is camouflage.  An organisms camouflage makes it hard for enemies to single out individuals.  

Structural Adaptation Camouflage (use of color in a surrounding) The chameleon can change its color to match its surroundings.

Structural Adaptations: Mimicry Mimicry allows one animal to look, sound, or act like another animal to fool predators into thinking it is poisonous or dangerous. Left coral snake poisonous right scarlet kingsnake not poisnous

Structural Adaptation Mimicry (looking or sounding like another living organism) The Viceroy butterfly uses mimicry to look like the Monarch butterfly. Can you tell them apart? I’m the Viceroy! Not poisonous Poisonous I’m the Monarch!

Structural Adaptation Chemical defenses (like venom, ink, sprays)

Structural Adaptations Body coverings & parts (claws, beaks, feet, armor plates, skulls, teeth) The elephant’s trunk is a structural adaptation that helps it to clean itself, eat, drink, and to pick things up.

Behavioral Adaptations… Now let’s learn about Behavioral Adaptations… Behavioral Adaptations allow animals to respond to life needs.

Behavioral Adaptations Behavior Adaptations include activities or actions that help an animal survive.    EX:Behavior for protection Opossum plays dead Rabbit freezes when it is seen 

Behavioral Adaptations are animals’ actions. Remember that Structural Adaptations are body features. Each organism has unique methods of adapting to its environment by means of different actions.

We can divide Behavioral Adaptations into two groups: Instinctive Learned These behaviors happen naturally & don’t have to be learned. These behaviors must be taught.

= happen naturally & don’t need to be learned Instinctive behaviors Methods of gathering & storing food Hibernating Defending oneself Raising young Migrating Finding shelter

Hibernation This is deep sleep in which animal’s body temp drops and body activities are slowed to conserve energy. EX. Bats, woodchucks, & bears.

Migration Animals migrate for different reasons. better climate better food safe place to live safe place to raise young go back to the place they were born. This is a behavioral adaptation that involves an animal or group of animals moving from one region to another and then back again. 

Learned behaviors Obtained by interacting with the environment and cannot be passed on to the next generation except by teaching. =

Learned Behavior Capuchin monkeys always finds the heaviest rock to break the nuts they eat. This skill is taught to younger generations…LEARNED BEHAVIOR

animal adaptations. In this lesson, we have learned about There are 2 ways to describe adaptations: Behavioral Structural and

Structural adaptations are body features. Some examples of structural adaptations are: Camouflage Mimicry Chemical defenses Body coverings & parts

Behavioral Adaptations are animals’ actions. Behavioral Adaptations can be Instinctive or Learned.

The next time you read about an animal in the wild, or when you see one on television, think about its adaptations…. The End