Adaptations for Obtaining Food, Protection, Locomotion.

Definitions:

adaptations - are features organisms have to enable them to survive (and reproduce).

behavioral adaptations - how they act in response to things (what does a cat do when threatened)
structural adaptions - how their body parts function (what body parts can a cat use to fend off an enemy?)

Some protective adaptations are

locomotion - ability to move from place to place.
mimicry - is the ability to appear to be or to imitate something other than what you really are
warning coloration - color and patterns that make organisms more noticable or stand out to warn off others.
camouflage - colors and/or patterns that blend in with its surroundings in order to become less noticeable or hide.

Examples of Adaptations

Organism	Behavioral and/or Structural Adaptation for Obtaining Food
fox	Quiet and quick to catch prey. Sharp teeth (canines) are used for piercing and holding onto prey. Strong legs fast/quick for catching food. Camouflage coloration (arctic fox is white) for hiding from enemies or hunting prey. Arctic fox decreased basal metabolic adaptation to food scarcity in winter.
moose	Long legs which are suited for ploughing through deep snow, walking over bushes and logs, and wading through muskeg. Close off nostrils to feed underwater. Big muscular lips to pull up plants. Tilts head back to put antlers along back to aid in running through brush, trees.
robin	Finds worms by keen eyesight (not by hearing!), quick movemens to pounce on them and a beak to pull them up. Beak to crush seeds, small insects. Some store food for later. Some break food against ground, rocks. Parent regurgitates or bring food to young in nest.
eagle	Keen eyesight. High flight. Sharp claws (talons) and sharp hooked beak.
birch tree	Root system. Broad large leaves on high up branches to catch sunlight for photosynthesis. Vascular system to bring sap from root to leaf.
pitcher plant	Leaves form pitchers (water holding jugs) to drown and dissolve/digest insects for nutrients. Down pointing hairs inside to prevent insect escape. Color, smell to attract insects. (Grows in poor soils - simple roots!)
spider	Spin sticky web catch insects. Venom (bites) to paralize. Venom preserves/digests inside of prey, spider drink it out. Wrap and store insect. Move quickly.
bread mold	Floats in air (as a spore) until it lands on food. Secrete digestive enzymes (fluids) to dissolve food then absorbs the nutrient products. Grows through the food.(Can't make their own food- not plants so don't need light!)

Organism	Behavioral and/or Structural Adaptation for Protection
skunk	Spray foul smelling scent. Sharp claws. Warning coloration (black with contrasting white stripes).Hisses, stamps feet, raises tail to threaten.
moose	Stay quiet and still. Males can fight with antlers?(Drop off in winter) . Strong legs and sharp hooves to kick. Run fast. Keen sense of smell. Good hearing (ears swivel). Color may be camoflauge in woods. May charge and kick/trample enemy.
opossum	Plays dead. Grimaces. Clings to things.
rabbit	Seasonal color change for camoflage.
rosebush	Thorns.
cat	Hisses, spits. Arches back, puffs up fur, sticks tail up to look bigger (more threatening). Sharp claws, teeth.
turtle	Most can withdraw into shell. Sharp beak. Scales on legs. Hissing. Some squirt water, body wastes, emit foul smells. Snapping turtles lunge and bite. Some Bury eggs on beach. Hatchlings head immediately for sea.
birch tree	Drops leaves in winter to avoid snow loading and damage. Strong flexable wood/roots avoid wind damage.
fir tree	Needle leaves are sharp. Cone shape of tree and needle leaves don't hold snow or catch much wind.
seahorse	Looks (color and shape) like seagrass beds on reefs. (camouflauge and mimicry?)
vice-roy butterfly	Color and wing pattern makes it look like toxic monarch butterfly (mimicry) so birds won't try to eat it.

Organism	Behavioral and/or Structural Adaptation for Locomotion
moose	Long legs which are suited for ploughing through deep snow, walking over bushes and logs, and wading through water/bogs/marsh/swamp/muskeg. Tilts back head (bull) so rack or antlers lay flat on back when running through dense wood. Drops rack out of mating season.
codfish	Fins to swim. Sleek body shape.
duck	Strong wings to get into flight quickly. Webbed feet like paddles for water surface propulsion.
frog	Long strong legs to hop quickly and far. Web hands, feet for swimming. Body shaped for easy water movement. Slimey body to slip over rocks, etc.?
snake	Body bending/flexing in wave like motions (undulations) against ground friction. Some use scales like paddles on ground (straight line).
earthworm	Two sets of muscles that alternately expand and contract to fatten and shorten or to stretch and thin different sections of the body. Also tiny hairs like legs?
starfish	Tubefeet under each arm alternate stick and release.

Birds Feet Adaptation (p.227)

coot - lives in marshy areas foot padding serves to keep it from sinking into the soft ground. Claws for digging for food (roots, etc..) Can paddle in water. Long strong legs digging, wading in shallow water.

heron - long foot for balance, long legs for wading along rocky, sandy or muddy shorelines.

duck - webbed feet for propelling along water surface. Short legs, muscular for swimming.

ptarmigan - fur covered for winter warmth, helps widen foot for snowshoe effect. Clawed for digging.

eagle - strong leg foot for grasping prey. Talon (sharp claws) killing and grasping prey.Rough feet bottom to hold slippery fish prey.

sparrow - foot shaped to perch (grasp and hold a branch), talons to dig for insects.

pheasant - strong foot with extra talons for digging. bird lives on surface, foot is good for running.

More Definitions

sexual dimorphism -

life cycle -

metamorphosis - the series of changes in appearance and habits during any individual's life cycle.

Examples of metamorphosis -

butterfly = egg - caterpillar - chrysalis (pupa or coccoon) - adult (butterfly)
frog = egg - tadpole - pollywog - frog(adult)
grasshopper = egg - 1st. instar - 2nd. instar - 3rd. instar - 4th. instar - 5th. instar - adult (what/how differentiates the instars?)

Types of Metamorphosis

Complete metamorphosis - butterfly, frog
Incomplete metamorphosis - grasshopper

Artificial Selection

Humans select organisms to reproduce based on desirable traits humans want in (future) offspring.

Ex. dogs - what/how would you select puppies from a litter if you intended to sell dogs for some "purpose" or "job"?

Seed Adaptations

Many plants reproduce by seeds. Seeds can be thought of as an adaptation for reproduction by plants.

Try this Quiz on seed dispersal methods. (Hard to see seed the small pictures!)

Use the following websites to find out more:

How Changing an Organism's Environment can Change the Organism.

Activity - Scientific Simulation - Square insects, colored environment, and straw predatory birds

Big Question: Why did the "insect" population change - why was one color "favored"?

Thought Lab

Ladybugs...survive or not!

Best Environment	Worst Environment
A rose bush - red roses camoflage (protect)	Green leafy environment - bug color stands out
Rain forest - lots of aphids to eat, warm	Desert - no food - stand out
Flower gardens - red, black and other colors flowers	Outer space - no oxygen
Flower shop/greenhouse - no predators, food available	Snow - cold and stand out

Question - Which area in the table above will Ladybugs have a population in?

Change to the peppered moth population in England during the 1800's Industrial Revolution

Previous to the Industrial Revolution peppered moths were mostly white with black specks. (How they get name peppered moth?)
Their coloration acted as camoflauge on the light lichens (what is a lichen?) and tree barks in the forests.
During Industrial Revolution many factorys built, energy powered by burning dirty, sooty, smokey coal.
Soot and smoke darkened the trees and lichens in nearby forests.
People noticed that now most peppered moths were dark with few white specks (salted moths?) How did the change occur? (No - they weren't covered in soot!)

Darwin and the finches of the Galapagos Island.

Darwin noticed that the finches on different islands had different appearances, particularly different beaks.
Darwin realized that the finches had come from the mainland, so at one time they were all alike.
Darwin observed that each island provided different food sources for the finches.
Darwin proposed that nature had selected (natural selection) which birds did best (got the most food, so were healthiest and reproduced most often) and survived to pass on their traits to their offspring.
Darwin's proposal explained the observed facts, that the finch populations would change in appearance because of conditions in the environment.

Describe the case of the San Jose scale (See the assignments on this!)

San Jose Scale was the first known insect to develop a resistance to pesticides! (How?)

The Five Kingdoms

Living things may be classified into groups
Scientists have agreed to use 5 groups based on an organism's structure.

	Prokaryotae (Monera)	Protista	Fungi	Plantae	Animalia
Cell Structure	Unicellular	Unicellular & Multicellular	Unicellular & Multicellular	Multicellular	Multicellular
Cell Wall			yes, hard, made chitin	yes, hard, (not chitin)	flexible or soft
Cell Nucleus	none	yes, present			yes, present
Other	live in colonies or separate
Examples	bacteria, virus	amoeba, paramecium	mushrooms, moulds	flowers, trees, moss	humans, dogs, cats

Hierarchical Systems

Organize or classify by grouping.
Each larger group is subdivided into smaller groups.
Grouping by subdividing continues until the smaller groups contain one "class" (species for organisms).

Biologists use an hierarchical system to organize living organisms with seven major levels (see p. 255)

Largest groupings at the first level are called kingdoms.There are currently five kingdoms (subject to change?!)
Two lowest levels are genus and species groupings (species is lowest with the most groups!).

Activity 5-7 - Linnaeus System of Name Classification

Names of organisms will be created using these agreed upon "rules".

Use two words.
Use Latin. (Latin is a "dead" language, no one speaks it, so the meanings of its words will never change!)
First word starts uppercase (capitalized), second word all lowercase.
First more general (genus), second specific (species).

Our examples.

We think the bat looks related to the mouse, so first name should reflect this!
So Mus (latin for mouse) is our first word in the name.

Mouse could now be named one of:

Mus terra (mouse ground)
Mus mus (mouse mouse)
Mus demos (mouse house?)
or ...?

Bat could now be named one of:

Mus ala (mouse wing)
Mus avis (mouse bird)
Mus volans (mouse flying)
or ...?

Zebra resembles a horse (equus) so could be named:

Equus lineatus (horse striped)
Equus erythros (horse belonging to)
or ...?
BUT NOT Mus "anything" as it doesn't resemble the mouse!

(It was pointed by some that the Zebra's tail (has a boney part) is different than a horse's tail (hair only). Also there are other major differences. Maybe zebras and horses should not have the same genus name?)

Dichotomous Keys

dichotomous key - a list of pairs of alternative characteristics used to identify living things

We examined:

Dichotomous key use for identification of some ungulates (p.260)
Dichotomous key construction for insects (Act 508 p.261)
Dichotomous key use for identification of "strange creatures" (handout)

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