Transcript Moving over different substrates

Adaptations
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What is Adaptation?
 “...the way in which a species becomes
better suited to living in its environment.”
 structures, characteristics, and
behaviors that increase an organisms’
chance of surviving and reproducing in
an environment.
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Structural adaptations are physical
characteristics that help the organism survive (keep
warm or cold, feed, communicate, move, etc.).
Ex: Thick layer of blubber of a polar bear is
used to keep it warm in the artic temperatures
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Movement
• Many methods: running, flying, swimming, etc.
• Different habitats present different problems to
movement that need to be overcome
• Specialists vs. Generalists
Leopard seal – aquatic specialist
Good in water...
...cumbersome on land
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Why move?
American pika collecting food
Common warthog fleeing from cheetah
Grass snake hatchlings dispersing
Radiated tortoises mating
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Movement on Land
Adaptations to moving on land
• Things to think about:
• Speed vs. agility (mode of feeding dictates movement) :
– Move to catch prey or to escape predators
– Land may be open or have obstacles such as trees
• Moving over different substrates e.g. sand, snow, mud
(What does it feel like when you run in sand?)
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Snow Leopard
• Meter long tail used for balance when walking across
rocky cliffs
• Short fore limbs and long hind limbs for agility in steep
rugged habitat.
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Arboreal Movement
Adaptations for living in trees
Things to think about:
• Forested areas may not be continuous
• Moving from one tree to another :swinging, jumping,
gliding
• Balance and grip (falling could be fatal)
Sugar glider
• Patagium (flaps on side of body) allow it to glide up to 50
meters
• Tail used to control direction when gliding, grasp tree when
sitting
• Feet are hand-like to grasp branches
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Aquatic Movement
Adaptations to aquatic movement
• Things to think about:
• Friction – causing drag
• Buoyancy – saline (salt) vs. freshwater
• Currents and tides
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Great white shark
• Streamlined body to reduce drag
• Fins and tail used to propel/direct itself through water
• No swim bladder, liver contains squalene which
maintains constant buoyancy
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Spotted handfish
• Two different methods of moving through water
a. fins for swimming or walking along sea floor
• Color allows it to blend into surroundings
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Aerial Movement
Adaptations to aerial movement
• Things to think about:
• Overcoming friction
• Use of air currents
• Hot air vs. cold air
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Peregrine falcon
Fastest flying bird 155 miles/hour
• Tear drop body shape makes it aerodynamic
• Nostrils with baffles (small cones) that slow down air
entering lungs so they do not explode
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California condor
• Adapted for gliding using 3 meter wingspan,
can go miles on a single flap
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Behavioral adaptations are actions that are
used by an organisms to help it survive.
Ex: Birds migrating south during the winter
Why? When fall turns to winter, temperature dips,
food sources become
scarce
Birds move to locations
where there is a constant
food supply and nesting
opportunities.
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Sea otters wind themselves up in
the tops of kelp. Young otters must
learn this behavior from older otters.
Why? Prevents them from being swept
away from their ecosystem by
the tide.
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Bear Hibernating
Why?
When fall turns to winter,
temperature dips, food sources
become scarce
What occurs?
o heartbeat drops from 55 beats/min to 10 beats/min
o body temperature drops 5-9 degrees below normal
o While in hibernation the bear uses stored energy it
accumulated as fat to survive. A bear can lose 15 to
40 percent of its body weight during the winter just
by sleeping!
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Cheetah
• Open plains specialist
• Adapted for speed
Spanish ibex
• Rocky habitat specialist
• Adapted for agility
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Polar bear
• Habitat generalist – can move over land and in water
• Adapted to polar habitat
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Legless movement
• Movement without limbs
• Adapted to overcome friction
Sidewinder
Leopard slug
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• Fossa
• Habitat generalist – can move quickly through trees as well as
on the ground
• Adapted to jump between branches
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White-handed gibbon
• Master of agility
• Adapted to swing between branches24
Bornean
orangutan
Snow leopard
Rainforest
River
Polar
Desert
Which habitat?
Ocean
Woodland
Mountains
Open grassland
Red squirrel
Nile crocodile
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Wild Journey
- You will be given an ‘Adaptations for Movement’ worksheet.
- Write in the adaptations that each species has for moving through its natural
habitat.
Once you have finished the worksheet, you can begin your ‘Wild Journey’
• Get into groups of 5 or less
• Each group will need:
• 1x Wild Journey board game
• 5x Species characters - use as your playing pieces on the board
• 5x Species fact files - explains how your particular species is
adapted to moving through its natural habitat
• 1x Rules sheet - read before beginning the game
• If you land on your natural habitat square: roll the dice again.
• If you land on your least suitable habitat square: miss a go!
Habitat
Species
Natural
Least suitable
African savannah
Polar
Rainforest
African savannah
Polar bear
Polar
Rainforest
Sidewinder
Desert
Rocky cliffs
Rocky cliffs
Desert
Cheetah
White-handed gibbon
Spanish ibex
Bornean
orangutan
Snow leopard
How are they adapted to move in their habitat?
Red squirrel
Nile crocodile
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