ADAPTATIONS

An exploration into the

miracles within nature

Jennifer McAuley

September 2002

MenuInventions: an Analogy

for adaptations

Two basic categories of adaptations

Adapting to a changing environment

Examples of Adaptations: Designs for a Purpose

An Adaptation Activity Websites

Definition

INSECTS FOR DINNER

This activity will test the actual definition of an adaptation; that is, whether or not these qualities actually help the organism survive.

Lay down a sheet of newspaper. Cut out small squares (1x1 inch) of red paper, white paper, and newspaper and sprinkle them on sheet to be the “insects”. Ask a few friends (hungry mockingbirds) to each run to the sheet 3 times and quickly grab the first square of paper they see. Take inventory and plot the number of squares of each color paper that was grabbed. If the camouflaged insects (the newspaper squares) truly have an advantage, then your results should look something like this…

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Results of Insects for Dinner

Color of Squares of Paper (“Insects”) Insects for Dinner

Insects

eaten

Examples of Adaptations:

Design for a purpose

Defense and Protection

Defense

Reproduction

Locomotion

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LocomotionExample:

Did you ever wonder how snakes crawl practically straight up a tree trunk? Snakes bellies are designed with the scutes, or rectangular scales, which overlap like the shingles of a roof and can grip the bark, much as squirrels’ claws do. Examples

ReproductionExample:

Would you think of a type of seed dispersal as an example of an adaptation? Well, plants have amazing ways of dispersing their seeds to more fertile ground far from the mother plant. Burrs are seeds covered in hook-like projections so that they will attach to passing mammals and fall off elsewhere.

Guess what? An inventor modeled his idea for VELCRO from this adaptation! Examples

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Defense Example:

A very cool example of an offensive adaptation (a design that helps an organism actively protect itself from harm) is the relationship between the Mexican Bullhorn Acacia tree and ants. The tree provides the ants with a shelter (its hollow thorns) and the ants in turn protect the tree by fiercely biting disturbers.

Note that this is also a good example of symbiosis, the living together of organisms. Here the relationship is a mutually beneficial behavioral adaptation.

Examples

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Defense and Protection

Camouflage Mimicry

Two Famous Strategies:

Examples

Mimicry is different from camouflage in that while camouflage hides an organism, mimicry advertises it. It tries to look, sound, taste, or smell like a different species. This may be to attract prey or a mate, or to avoid becoming a predator’s next meal.

Example:

Many insects have eye spots on their wings. These “fake eyes” may trick a potential predator into thinking that the moth is actually a formidable predator itself. Big eyes must mean big teeth!

Defense and Protection

Camouflage is an organism’s ability to blend in with its environment, usually in order to protect itself from dangers such as predation and competition.

Example:

Living stones are an awesome example of a plant’s camouflage. Living stones are small pebble-sized-and-shaped succulent plants that live in the rocky deserts of South Africa. Their remarkable resemblance to surrounding pebbles helps protect them from thirsty foraging animals.

Defense and Protection

There are two basic categories of adaptations:

Behavioral Adaptations

Morphological Adaptations

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Morphological adaptations deal with an organism’s physical structure.

Example:

Osprey, raptors found near water, hunt mainly fish. The pads of their feet are covered with tiny hooks called spicules which help them grab & hold their slimy prey. (Osprey foot pads feel like very intense sand paper!) Raptors such as red-tailed hawks that don’t normally prey on fish lack this physical adaptation.

By the way, can you think of an invention which models this function? How about cleats on soccer shoes, or rubber grips on gardening gloves?

Two Categroies

Behavioral adaptations deal with an organism’s actions, either solitarily or as a group.

Example:

Many animals congregate in groups. Wolves hunt in packs in order to corner their prey. A wolf hunting singly would not be nearly as successful a hunter. So, we can call group hunting an adaptation since it increases the wolves’ chances of survival. Two Categories

Adaptations may refer to an organism’s ability to change in order to cope with changing

environmental circumstancesFor Example:

The fur of many species of rabbits and hares changes to match seasonal surroundings. In winter, their fur is white to blend in with the snow. As winter fades and the snow melts away, their fur changes to brownish grey.

In winter their fur is also much thicker. Is this a morphological or a behavioral adaptation?

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An invention is some tool people develop to aid in accomplishing a task. For example, a screw driver is a tool designed to accomplish the task of securing a screw into an object. Without the screwdriver, a person would have a difficult, if not impossible time, attempting to secure a screw.

An adaptation is like an invention: it is a tool an organism uses to help it survive by accomplishing a task.

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An adaptation is some quality of an organism which helps the organism survive in its environment. Similar

adaptations are often shared by organisms inhabiting a common habitat. So basically an adaptation is the unique

way an organism is designed to help it live.

DEFINITION:

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