evolutionary adaptations

• Anatomical adaptations are physical body structures like fur, claws, or wings.
• Physiological adaptations are about how an animal's body works internally, such as how camels store fat in their humps
• Behavioural adaptations are actions, like how owls hunt silently at night
• what is natural selection?

  If an animal has a helpful feature, it is more likely to survive and pass on its genes. Over generations, the useful feature becomes common in the population.
• what is evolution?

  the gradual change of living things over time
• If groups of animals become isolated, they can evolve separately and

  eventually become different species — this is called speciation.
• Selection pressures are the challenges animals face

  in their environment that ‘select’ which adaptations are

  helpful. For example, predators (biological selection pressure)

  may ‘select’ for prey animals that are better at hiding.
• mammal characteristics

  • have fur/hair
  • feed their young milk
• avian characteristics

  • have feathers
  • lay eggs
• reptile characteristics

  • scaly skin
  • cold-blooded
• amphibian characteristics

  • moist skin
  • live part of their life in water
• fish characteristics

  • gills to breathe underwater
  • scales
• Monotremes (Mammals that lay eggs) - platypus, echidna