Download Animal Adaptations

Why in the world do they look like that?
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Heterothermic animals
(low body temperatures)
to conserve energy. It
takes a week for them to
digest food
Only go to the ground to
defecate and urinate.
Low muscle mass to
conserve energy (25% of
body)
Fur has special grooves to
house algae in a symbiotic
relationship (the algae
helps camouflage the sloth
and the sloth helps give
the algae a home)
Ratio of females to males
is not 50:50; it is 11:1!
Predators include ocelots,
anacondas, eagles, and
jaguars
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Lives more than a mile deep in
the water
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Spine acts like a fishing rod and
lures prey
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Large head many pointed teeth
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Males are very small (much
smaller than females) and live
as permanent parasites on the
females. The male bites the
female and eventually their skin
fuses together and the blood of
the female flows to the male.
The male is completely reliant
on the female for food. The
eyes eventually get smaller and
smaller and disintegrate.
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Camouflaged fish found
exclusively in the brown kelp
beds of Southern Australia
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Leafy like appendages on the
body
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Related to sea horses
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Breed once a year (250
eggs)
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Female deposits unfertilized
eggs in the males’ pouches
and the males carry the
offspring
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Extremely sensitive mole : star on
nose can feel and work like a hand (but
6 times as sensitive).
It has 22 fleshy appendages that
make up the “star.”
Lives underground and is considered
one of the most blind animals (even
amongst mole standards)
Scientists equate the star nose to the
visual tracking of an eye and even call
it a “finger that looks.”
The star-nosed mole is known to be a
most powerful swimmer and spends
much of its time behaving like a fish,
using its paddles as fins to propel
itself underwater and even under ice,
while blocking its undisputed nostrils
with its multi-tasking proboscises
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The most unique adaptation is their long, thin
fingers. These long fingers are used to tap on
bark and nuts to find their food sources. Their
third finger can grow to be up to six inches
long and can move independently of the other
fingers. This finger is used for tapping on
wood to find insects and then extracting them
from the wood when one is found.
Oversized ears are used to find food and listen
to vibrations as they are typing
Unique characteristic about their teeth is that
they never stop growing. These teeth are used
for gnawing at wood when looking for insects
and also for breaking nuts and fruits when
they eat them
Their claws help them with their climbing. The
aye-aye is one of only two primates to have
true claws.
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Bats have evolved a great deal of adaptations to
survive in varied conditions across the globe.
There are frugivorous species and species that
feed only on blood. Some species are large while
others are as small as five grams. Some bats are
pollinators and some bats are predators.
All bats are mammals but they are one of the
few that have evolved the ability to fly. The
anatomy of a bats wings is very different than
those of a bird or insect. Just as the name for
this order, Chiroptera ("winged hands") may
imply, the bones of the wings are elongated
fingers.
Another adaptation that bats have is the ability
to hibernate when the seasons change. But, it
doesn't matter if a bat lives in cold areas. They
do this by dropping their core body
temperature, which reduces energy loss. Its
thought that some bats induce hibernating by
moving up-slope to cooler elevations.
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This unique fish lives off the
coasts of Australia and
Tasmania at depths between
600 – 1200 metres (1968 –
3937 feet).
Blobfish doesn’t have a swim
bladder and doesn’t have any
muscles. What they do have
though is a jelly-like flesh
that has a lower density
than water.
It just sits there swallowing
any food matter that floats
by. This method works well
for the blobfish as it
expends very little energy.
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The tarsier has
proportionally massive eyes,
making their vision very
acute. Coupled with their
excellent hearing, this
makes them superior
nocturnal hunters.
Tarsiers can rotate their
heads a full 180 degrees
Tarsiers have adapted to
become skilled jumpers.
Many are capable of jumping
up to twenty feet, an
important survival skill in the
jungle
Due to a diet of mostly
insects, the tarsier has long
flattened nails
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They have an enlarged wrist bone located
on each front paw, which serves as a
"thumb." This sixth digit or "thumb" is
useful for feeding because it allows the
pandas to grasp and hold bamboo tightly.
Red pandas also have large tails which
are often used as a pillow and prevent
heat loss. Their tails assist them in
maintaining balance and propping them up
Red pandas also have a small body
mass. They usually weigh around 8 to 14
pounds. Their small body mass allows
them to walk on thin branches, making
the panda inaccessible to heavier
predators.
Red pandas are also excellent climbers,
and they have strong, curved
claws. When descending down a tree
headfirst, the red panda uses hind-foot
mobility.