Behavioral Adaptations

Behavioral AdaptationsWhat are they????

What are behavioral adaptation???

0 Behavioral adaptations are still “adaptations”, they just differ from physical adaptations because they are behaviors that animals take on to keep them alive.

0 Physical adaptations are parts of an animal’s body which help them survive- behavioral adaptations are “actions” an animal exhibits.

0 Both are adaptations which are intended to help keep the animal alive.

Just think….0What could be the result of an

animal NOT having behavioral adaptations?

Instincts….0What are instincts?

0 Instincts are BEHAVIORS that an animal is born knowing to do.

0 Instincts are examples of BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS.

Spider webs

Spiders0 Spiders begin life knowing how to spin webs and catch

prey- they are not taught by their parents- this is an instinct, which is also a behavioral adaptation.

0 How are spider webs examples of behavioral adaptations?

0 How does this adaptation help spiders survive?

0 How do spiders use this adaptation to capture their prey and feed?

How is this a behavioral adaptation?

Smart thinking…0Zebras know that living and traveling

together in herds protect them from predators…..This is an instinct….which is also a behavioral adaptation.

0How does this living arrangement protect the zebras and help tem survive longer?

Who made these?????

They did… the Weaverbird

The Weaverbird..*How do the Weaverbirds know how to weaver these nests?

*Is the Weaverbird’s nest an example of an instinct?

Why or why not?

Is this an example of a behavioral adaptation?

What is going on here?

Hibernation…0What is hibernation?

0Hibernation is when animals enter into shelters and enter into an inactive, dormant state.

0What does this mean?0The animals are certainly still alive- but their

bodies have in a way “shut down” for winter.

Hibernation 0Why is hibernation an important behavioral

adaptation for animals?

0 In what areas would animals use hibernation as a behavioral adaptation?

How are animals able to survive hibernation?

0 Where winters are very cold, by instinct, they know how to get ready for winter.

0 They begin to eat more food than normal, gaining fat on their bodies.

0 They then build dens or find shelters (underground)

0 When the days get shorter and colder, the animal moves into its underground den or shelter and enter a dormant and inactive state

0 This pretty much means that they sleep for the remaining wintertime.

What????0 The animal’s heart barely beats during hibernation

0 Breathing almost stops during hibernation

0 The body temperature of the animal drops to just above freezing. ( our normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees F- freezing is 32 degrees F)

0 Since the body is barely working, the animal does not use as much energy and the animal does not need to eat.

0 During the time of the overeating, there is enough stores fat in the animal’s body to keep it alive during winter.

However, in the springtime…

0 In the springtime, the hibernating animals “wake up” and they are HUNGRY and very thin.

Animals that hibernate….

Woodchucks0 A woodchucks digs a winter burrow. 0 Its body temperature drops from 97 degrees F to 46

degrees F!

Bats0 A bat’s normal heartbeat is 400 beats per minute. 0 During hibernation, a bat’s heartbeat drops to 11

beats per minute.

FrogsMany male frogs hibernate t the bottom of ponds while the female and young frogs hibernate in dens on land.

What Other animals hibernate?

badger

Bees, chipmunks, earthworms

Lemur, hedgehogs, lizards

Snakes, skunks, snails

One more behavioral adaptation…

0Migration….0 What is migration?

0 Migration is a behavioral adaptation where a GROUP of animals move to one region and then come back to where they started at.

0 Why would animals migrate?

0 To find better climates (such as during the winter) or to places where there is more food.

Migration0Why is migration considered a behavioral adaptation?

0Is migration an instinct?

0What animals migrate?

Humpback Whales

Humpback whales0 Humpback whales travel over 3,100 miles a season!

0 They birth their young in warm waters in the winter and then migrate (travel in pods) to cold polar waters in the summer to feed.

0 They travel nearly 1,000 miles per month.

The Arctic Tern

The Arctic Tern0 The Arctic Tern travels farther than ANY other

migrating animal.

0 In the summer, it breeds in the Arctic Circle (right on top of Earth)

0 In the fall, it migrates to the Antarctic ice packs (on the bottom of earth!)

0 The Arctic Tern travels almost 18,000 kilometers in its migratory path!

Arctic Tern Migratory Path

Caribou0Caribou spend the winters in forests in

Northern Canada.

0 In early Spring, they move north.

Sandpiper- long nonstop journey

0The Sandpiper spends summers in Eastern Canada, but in winter, it flies NONSTOP over the Atlantic Ocean to South America.

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