Genetic Adaptation Notes

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Adaptation Review

• A physical adaptation is a feature that is common in a population because it provides some improved function. http://peer.tamu.edu/

Types of Adaptation

• Adaptations must be heritable, or passed on to their offspring.

• They must be functional, or perform the task they are adapting for.

• They must be adaptive, or increase the fitness of the organisms that have it.

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Example: Bird Feathers

• Are bird feathers an adaptation for bird flight?

• First, are feathers heritable?– Yes, baby birds have feathers like their

parents

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Bird Feathers

• Are bird feathers functional (do feathers function to enable flight?)– Yes, birds without feathers are not able to

fly

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Bird Feathers

• Are bird feathers adaptive?– Yes, birds without

feathers aren’t going to leave as many offspring as those with feathers

Conclusion: Bird feathers are an

adaptation for flight!

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Adaptation Review

• Adaptations can take many forms.

• It can be a behavior that allows better evasion from predators,

• an anatomical feature,

• or something that is not easily seen, like a protein in the blood that functions better at a certain body temperature.

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Example Question

• Does this fawn live

In the forest? Or in the desert?http://peer.tamu.edu/

Answer:

• It lives here

in the forest!

• What adaptation helps it to live here?

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How do you know?

• Fawns need camouflage from predators. A fawn's spots blend with the dappled sunlight that comes through the trees in the forest, hiding the fawn as long as it lies still.

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Question #1

• Does this bat hunt during the

Day? Or at night?http://peer.tamu.edu/

Answer:

• This bat hunts at night!

• What adaptation do you see that helps it?

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How do you Know?

• Bats use echolocation to find food in the dark. They make noises that bounce off prey and go back to the bats. The bats have large ears to hear the echoes!

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Question #2

• Which frogs are more likely to be poisonous?

The colored frogs?

Or the green frogs?

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Answer:

• The colored frogs, called poison dart frogs, are the poisonous ones!

What adaptation do you see that shows they are poisonous?

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How do you know?

• The bright colors of a poison frog serve as a warning sign to predators that they are dangerous to eat.

• In fact, there are several species of non-poisonous frogs that mimic the poison frog’s coloration for protection!

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Question # 3:

• Does this zebra live

In the grasslands? Or in the forest?

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Answer:

• The zebra lives in the grasslands!

• What adaptation helps it survive here?

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How do you know?

• The zebra's black and white stripes provide a form of camouflage known as disruptive coloration. This camouflage pattern breaks up the outline of the animal's body.

• Although the pattern is visible during the daytime, zebras look indistinct and confuse predators by distorting true distance.

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Question #4

• Which animal most likely lives in a tree?

The sloth?Or the capybara?

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Answer:

• The sloth spends its whole life in a tree!

• What adaptations help it live here?

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How do you know?

• Their specialized hands and feet have long, curved claws to allow them to hang upside-down from branches without effort. They have extra long powerful arms to hang upside down for a long time.

• Sloths usually eat, sleep and even give birth hanging from limbs!

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Question #5

• Which type of leaf probably receives more rainfall?

Broad leaves? Or Needle leaves?http://peer.tamu.edu/

Answer:

• The broad leaves receive more rain!

• What clues tell you this?

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How do you know?

• The leaves have a shiny, waxy surface with channels to help the rainwater run off quickly.

• Plus, the tips of the leaves end in a narrow downward point so that the last drops of water drip off.

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Question #6

• Does this owl

hunt during the

Day? Or at night?http://peer.tamu.edu/

Answer:• This owl is nocturnal, and it hunts at

night!

• What adaptation helps it do this?

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How do you know?

• The eyes of this owl has very large pupils and corneas, an adaptation for gathering more light when it hunts at night.

• Owls are actually believed to have the best night vision in the animal kingdom!

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Question #7

• Which animal probably lives in the desert?

The Fennec Fox? Or this ocelot?http://peer.tamu.edu/

Answer:• The Fennec

Fox lives in the desert!

• What adaptations help it live here?

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How do you know?

• First, the Fennec Fox has a light, sand colored coat to blend into its habitat.

• Second, it has large ears, up to seven inches long, to get rid of excess body heat in the hot, dry desert.

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Question #8

• Which type of teeth most likely belongs to a predator?

Teeth #1? Or Teeth #2?

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Answer:

• Teeth #2 belong to a predator!

• How can you tell?

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How do you know?

• Most carnivores have large, pointy canines in front to seize and kill their prey, and jagged teeth in the back to tear and shred meat off their prey.

• In this case, these teeth belong to a tiger!

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Question #9

• What organism most likely pollinates this flower?

Hummingbird? Or bee?http://peer.tamu.edu/

Answer:

• If you said hummingbird, you are correct!

• How can you tell?

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How do you know?

• This flower has a long floral tube corresponding to a hummingbird’s long beak.

• It is also not easily accessible to insects, who use petals as landing pads while hummingbirds can hover in the air.

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Question #10

• Which set of eyes most likely belongs to prey?

Set #1? Or Set #2?http://peer.tamu.edu/

Answer:

• Set of eyes #2 belongs to prey, in this case a deer!

• How can you tell?

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How do you know?

• The deer, or prey, has eyes on the sides of its head to let it see more of the world at any given moment.

• It is important for it to be able to see a predator before it gets close. It doesn't need to see it clearly, just to know the minute it comes into vision.

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The End!

• Tally up your scores and see who mastered the concept of adaptation!

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Other Interesting Adaptations!

• These cypress trees have “knees”, which are woody projections sent above the water level, with a sharp bend taking them roughly vertically downward into soil. These trees grow in muddy swamps, and the “knees” help them stay upright!

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Other Interesting Adaptations

• This shark is light on its belly to be camouflaged from organisms looking up into the lighter water. It is dark on the top for organisms looking down into the water, it will blend with the darker ocean floor!

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Other Interesting Adaptations

• This walking stick mimics its surroundings by appearing to look like a twig. It is in the order Phasmatodea, which is Greek for phantom!

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Other Interesting Adaptations

• Camels do not store water in the humps! Their humps are a reservoir of fatty tissue. However, when this fat is broken down it yields through reaction with oxygen from the air water for use! This allows them to survive without water for about two weeks!

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Other Interesting Adaptations

• Polar bears have large, spread out paws that act like snowshoes when they walk in deep snow. Stiff hairs also grow on the soles of its paws to provide traction on the slippery ice.

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