Adaptations are features that allow organisms to survive in their environments.
What are the three types of adaptations?
structural, behavioural, functional
What is a structural adaptation?
A physical part or feature of an organism
the white fur of a polar bears provide camouflage in the snow so it has less chance of being detected by prey
Seals have a thicklayer of blubber (fat) to insulate them against the cold conditions they live in
What is a behavioural adaptation?
The way an organismbehaves
Cold-blooded reptiles bask in the sun to absorb heat
Rabbits dig burrows in which to live in and raise offspring
What is a functional adaptation?
Biological processes within the organism
snakes produce venom to kill prey
mosquitos produce chemicals that stop the animal's blood clotting when they bite, so that they can feed more easily
Adaptations to the cold regions
Animals here often have a small surface area to volume ratio to minimise heat loss due to their surroundings
A thicklayer of fat or furinsulates them against the cold
These are examples of structural adaptations.
Adaptations to desert regions
Some desert animals have specially adapted kidneys which produce very concentratedurine, helping the animal retainwater -this is a functional adaptation
Some are only active in the early mornings, late evenings or at night when it is cooler -this is a behavioural adaptation
Some animals have structures to increase their surfacearea to volume ratio, this increasesheat loss (e.g. large ears of African elephants) -this is a structural adaptation
Small surface area to volume ration
small surfacearea compared to its volume, this helps reduceheatloss
large surface area to volume ratio
large surfacearea compared to its volume, increasesheatloss
Extremophiles
Some organisms live in environments that are very extreme, such as at very high or lowtemperatures, pressures, or high saltconcentration
Organisms that can live in extreme environments are called extremophiles
Extremophiles
Bacteria called chemoautotrophs survive by using inorganic chemicals to obtain energy (rather than using sunlight in photosynthesis as photoautotrophs do)
Other species can then use the bacteria as a source of nutrition – the bacteria are producers in these food chains