Adaptations

• structural

  • these are features of an organism's body stucture such as shapr or colour
  • arctic animals have white fur so they are camouflaged against the snow. This helps them avoid predators and sneak up on prey
  • animals that live in cold places have a thick layer of blubber and a low surface area to volume ratio to help them retain
  • animals that live in hot places have a thin layer of fat and a large surface area to volume ratio to help them lose heat
• Behavioural

  • these are ways that organisms behave
  • many species migrate to warmer climates during the winter to avoid the problems of living in cold conditions
• Functional

  • these are things that go on inside an organism's body that can be related to processes like reproduction and metabolism
  • desert animals conserve water by producing very little sweat and small amounts of concentrated urine
  • brown bears hibernate over winter, they lower their metabolism which conserves energy so they don't have to hunt when there's not much food about
• micro-organisms have a huge variety of adaptations

  • some microoganisms are known as extremophiles they are adapted to live in very extreme conditions.
  • for example some can live ay high temperatures and others can live in places with a high salt concentration or at high pressure