~BIOLOGY~
Adaptations of Animals
There are 3 kinds of adaptations
1. Structural Adaptation Definition Structural Adaptation is an adaptation process of morphological & anatomical structures of organism to the environment conditions. 2. Functional Adaptation/Physiological Adaptation Definition Functional Adaptation is an adaptation of body work function as a response to changes occuring in the environment. 3. Behavioral Adaptation Definition Behavioral Adaptation is an adaptation process to adjust the environmental changes by changing the behaviour. |
Natural Selection
Natural Selection is a choosing/selection by nature to individuals having adaptive characteristics to certain environment.
Based on the environment, Natural Selections are grouped into 2 1. Biotic Environment
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Adaptations of Animals
Giraffe' Adaptations
Some information said that giraffes' long necks are a result of sexual selection because bulls use them extensively in "necking," or battling over females. This might explain why males' necks continue to grow after maturity while females' necks do not.
If giraffes did not have a long neck, the predators will catch them easier and without their long necks, they wouldn’t get much food.
When Giraffes fight, they use their neck and head banging.
Over all, Giraffe including in Adaptation :)
- Necks
Some information said that giraffes' long necks are a result of sexual selection because bulls use them extensively in "necking," or battling over females. This might explain why males' necks continue to grow after maturity while females' necks do not.
If giraffes did not have a long neck, the predators will catch them easier and without their long necks, they wouldn’t get much food.
When Giraffes fight, they use their neck and head banging.
- Legs
- Mouth & Tongue
- Heart
- Lungs
Over all, Giraffe including in Adaptation :)
Examples of 3 Kinds of Adaptations
Structural Adaptations
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Functional Adaptations
- Tropical Rainforest' Roots
They used the roots to take up more water & nutrients. - Stonefly & Mayfly Nymphs They have legs which are adapted for gripping rocks. - River Limpet It has a foot which acts as a sucker. - Monkeys They have tails which are used to help them keep their balance as they run & jump. - The Pit Viper They have sensitive organ that can detect changes 0.002 degree Celcius. - Kangaroos They have a pocket in the area of their stomachto bring their babies. - Beavers They have sharp tooths to make their home by eating the wood. |
Behavioral Adaptations
> Bats
They hibernate, because in winter, insects (which are their food) didn't came out. > Hedgehogs They hibernate, because in winter, insects (which are their food) didn't came out. > Deciduous Trees They adapt to the cold icy weather of winter by losing their leaves. > Snowdrops They produce leaves and flowers in spring. > Bluebells They produce leaves and flowers in spring. > Zebras They migrate on wet season to a drier part of the plains in South. > Wildbeests They migrate on wet season to a drier part of the plains in South. > Gazelles They migrate on wet season to a drier part of the plains in South. > Cacti They protect themselves by camouflaging to look like stones. > Tumbleweed They were including Behavioural Adaptation because they released their seeds into the wind. > Dolphin Fish It loves to jumping out of the water. |
Pictures
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Examples of Natural Selection
> Peppered Moth
Many times a species is forced to make changes as a direct result of human progress. Such is the case with the peppered moth (Biston betularia). Up until the Industrial Revolution, these moths were typically whitish in color with black spots, although they were found in a variety of shades. As the Industrial Revolution reached its peak, the air in London became full of soot, and the once-white trees and buildings that moths used for camouflage became stained black. The birds began to eat more of the lighter-colored moths because they were more easily spotted than the darker ones. Over the course of a few months, dark moths started appearing in the area and lighter moths became scarce. Once the Industrial Revolution peak passed, lighter moths made a comeback. > Finch at Galapagos Island Since then, extensive work has been done to show that the 14 species of finch on the Galapagos are closely related. There is no real controversy about this: it was one of the conclusions of Susan Coleman in Biblical Creation (1986, 8:22, 3-21) in her helpful review of the data. New research results reported during the 1980s and 1990s relate to finches on Daphne Major, a tiny islet with an area of about 100 acres.A remarkable long-term investigation of these finches has been led by Professor Peter Grant, a zoologist at Princeton University. He has been visiting the Galapagos islands since 1973. Two resident populations of finches of Daphne Major have been the subject of careful scrutiny by Grant, his wife, Rosemary, and numerous graduate students and assistants. The fieldwork has involved documenting the life history of every finch on the island in meticulous detail. The parents are known, and measurements are made of body dimensions, particularly body size and beak depth. The goal has been to study natural selection in action. If changes were to occur as a result of environmental pressures, the researchers had the opportunity to detect them and to investigate cause and effect relationships. A readable summary of their findings was published in Scientific American (October 1991, 60-65) with the title: `Natural selection and Darwin's finches'. Selection pressures come from drought years and rainy years. When there is plenty of moisture, grasses grow profusely, herbs are abundant and shrubs produce copious foliage and seeds. In a drought year, everything is in short supply. In particular, the ratio of small seeds to large seeds tends to drop. This last point is relevant to the ground finches, whose beaks are adapted for eating seeds of a certain size. In 1977 and 1982, Daphne Major had a very poor rainy season. These droughts were a disaster for the resident birds: most did not breed; those that did lost their offspring, birds died (in 1977, the medium ground finch population reduced to only 15% of their pre-drought numbers). The larger birds tended to survive and pass on their genes to the next generation. Some birds may have emigrated rather than died, but the numbers are thought to be low. Studies of carcasses showed a tendency for small birds to die preferentially. The indications, therefore, are for droughts to select for larger birds with larger beaks. During normal years, with a good rainy season, there is an abundance of food for every bird, and selection pressures are low. In these years, the average body size and average beak depth tends to return to normal values. Thus, over successive years, the researchers have observed an oscillation of measurable traits. Grant and his colleagues considered whether body size and beak depth (the characters that correlated positively with survival) are heritable.
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