Animals adapt to their environments over many years.
When you describe any type of animal, be it a fish, bird, reptile, amphibian or mammal, you highlight the animal's characteristics. These are things such as claws, a beak, fins and fur. Such characteristics are the animal's physical adaptations. If you are then able to watch the same animal in its natural environment, you can observe the techniques it uses to hunt, eat, reproduce and rest. These techniques are its behavioral adaptations. By describing an animal and observing it in these ways, you record and witness the means by which it has adapted in order to survive.
Causes of Adaptation
Animals evolve over thousands of years. The way they evolve relates to their will to survive. An important part of this survival is protection from danger. An animal may be a food source for other creatures, for example. The animal must therefore adapt and develop a defense mechanism. The animal may also live in a harsh environment. It must adapt in ways that help it stay alive. Another vital part of survival is finding food. An animal must develop physical and behavioral traits that allow it to eat well. The main causes of adaptation are therefore the need to be safe, to fit in with the environment and to be well nourished.
Body Parts
An animal's body parts are physical adaptations. For instance, a duck has webbed feet to help it swim in a watery environment. Furthermore, by swimming and diving, the duck is able to find fish, its main source of food.
Why does a giraffe need such a long neck? As with a duck, the answer relates to environment and food. The long neck allows a giraffe to eat leaves from high up in trees where other leaf-eating animals cannot reach. The long neck gives a giraffe a survival advantage.
Body Coverings
Body coverings are another physical adaptation that helps animals survive. The thick fur of a polar bear, for example, helps keep the animal warm in the low temperatures of its home. The fur also serves another purpose: because the fur is white, a polar bear is difficult to see in a snowy landscape. This enables a bear to sneak up unnoticed on prey such as seals. The white fur therefore helps a polar bear obtain food.
Behavior
Animals also survive thanks to behavioral adaptations. Penguins, for instance, prefer to live in large groups. They make their nests close to each other. They hunt for fish in packs rather than on their own. The reason is self-interest; if a predator such as a walrus decides to feed on penguins, the large number of penguins means that most will survive. The walrus will only be able to eat one or two. In contrast, animals such as lions live in small family groups. They don't have predators trying to eat them and don't need the protection a large community can offer.
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