Adaptations
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.
We can separate adaptations into two categories: Physical and behavioral. |
Physical Adaptations
Physical adaptations are body structures that allow an animal to find and consume food, defend itself, and to reproduce its species.
Camouflage (use of color in a surrounding) The chameleon can change its color to match its surroundings. Can you do that? Mimicry (looking or sounding like another living organism) The Viceroy butterfly uses mimicry to look like the Monarch butterfly. Can you tell them apart? |
Behavioral Adaptations
Behavioral Adaptations allow animals to respond to life needs. Behavioral Adaptations are animals’ actions. (Remember that Physical Adaptations are body structures.) Each organism has unique methods of adapting to its environment by means of different actions. We can divide Behavioral Adaptations into two groups: