Adaptations of Organisms
Adaptation: An adaptation is the adjustment of an organism to it’s environment that improves it’s ability to survive in that environment
Adaptations can provide many benefits to all organisms as they increase the chance of survival of that organism. Some benefits are that the adaptations are a way to retain heat, scare predators, camouflage to hide from predators, attract predators, chase predators, retain nutrients, migration etc.
Adaptations can be behavioural, physiological or structural.
Physiological adaptations are biological responses that occur as a result of a change in the surrounding environment such as producing sweat to cool down the body and how a blue ringed octopus’ rings glow when they are threatened to warn other predators that they are poisonous.
Behavioural adaptations are when changes occur in the patterns of behaviour that an organism experiences so that they are able to better suit their environment. Examples of these would be how skunks spray a foul smelling scent to keep other animals away, how a cat arches their back and puffs up fur and sticks their tail up to make them look bigger and more intimidating.
Structural adaptations are any changes in the physical features of an organism. These could be things such as webbed feet on a duck to help them swim better or fur on a polar bear to keep them warm, or how roses have thorns to protect them from being eaten by animals.
Adaptations can provide many benefits to all organisms as they increase the chance of survival of that organism. Some benefits are that the adaptations are a way to retain heat, scare predators, camouflage to hide from predators, attract predators, chase predators, retain nutrients, migration etc.
Adaptations can be behavioural, physiological or structural.
Physiological adaptations are biological responses that occur as a result of a change in the surrounding environment such as producing sweat to cool down the body and how a blue ringed octopus’ rings glow when they are threatened to warn other predators that they are poisonous.
Behavioural adaptations are when changes occur in the patterns of behaviour that an organism experiences so that they are able to better suit their environment. Examples of these would be how skunks spray a foul smelling scent to keep other animals away, how a cat arches their back and puffs up fur and sticks their tail up to make them look bigger and more intimidating.
Structural adaptations are any changes in the physical features of an organism. These could be things such as webbed feet on a duck to help them swim better or fur on a polar bear to keep them warm, or how roses have thorns to protect them from being eaten by animals.
Thorny DevilThe thorny devil is a native Australian lizard that has yellow and orange spines covering their entire body which makes them distinctive. They also have a pretend second head on the back of their neck. They are also known as the mountain devil or thorny lizard.
Image taken from: http://www.artflakes.com/en/products/thorny-devil-moloch-horridus-in-the-desert
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LyrebirdThese native Australian brown birds have a feature that makes them easy to distinguish. They have long trailing tail feathers that they can display in the shape of a lyre which is where the name lyrebird comes from. They also have relatively long legs and are the size of a chicken.
Image taken from: http://flickriver.com/photos/5cheherazad3/2743568495/
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Kangaroo PawThe red and green kangaroo paw is the floral emblem of western Australia and they are a low shrub which has deep red flowers on them which are covered in hairs, while the rest of the flower is a dark green colour.
Image taken from: http://dawsonsgardenworld.com.au/product/anigozanthos-bush-ballad-common-name-kangaroo-paw-175mm/
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