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Alaskan Animal Adaptations What is an adaptation? Everyone has adaptations. Adaptations can change the way you look or the way you behave. Adaptations help a plant or animal to survive the cold, the heat, to find food, to use tools, to hide from predators, and much more.

Sometimes adaptations seem strange, but that is probably why they work so well. Many different kinds of plants and animals can have the same adaptation for surviving a situation. Adaptations are what make us special.

ARCTIC FOX

Arctic Foxes have many adaptations like turning white to match the snow in winter. They have

sharp teeth and claws for catching and eating their prey. Arctic foxes feed mostly on small mammals,

like lemmings and tundra voles. Foxes living near rocky cliffs along the seacoast often eat nesting

seabirds such as auklets, puffins, and murres. When food is plentiful, it is sometimes stored among

boulders and in dens to eat later. Many foxes venture out onto the sea ice during winter to eat the

remains of seals killed by polar bears. Arctic foxes are omnivorous, this is an adaptation that means

they can eat both plants and animals. They sometimes eat berries, eggs, and scavenged remains of

other animals. Being able to eat more than one kind of food makes it easier to survive if some of your

food is no longer around to eat.



CARIBOU

Caribou have adaptations to keep warm, their fur and adaptations to fight off predators, their

antlers, but one of their best adaptations is their feet. Caribou have large, almost suction cup like

hooves that spread widely to support the animal in snow and soft tundra, kind of like snowshoes. The

feet also function as paddles when caribou swim. the edges of the caribous hooves also become

sharp over time and helps them to walk on ice if they have to. Caribou have to migrate long distances

to find food and because of the weather. You better have good feet if you are going to have to walk to

your food.



BELUGA WHALE

Beluga whales are white. Each summer they shed their skin. They remove the old

skin by rubbing it on gravel or coarse sand bottoms of rivers. Before they shed, their skin

is yellow and scared. After they shed their skin is shiny and white. The beluga can swim

forward, backwards and upside down. Being able to swim allows them to escape

predations and is one of their many adaptations.



GRIZZLY BEAR

Like most plants and animals, the grizzly bear has several adaptations that help it to survive.

The grizzly bear has two very cool adaptations, a physical adaptation (an adaptation that changes the

way the bear looks) and a behavioral adaptations it changes the way the bear behaves). The grizzly

bear has a big hump at the shoulders (physical adaptation) and it hibernates (behavioral adaptation).

The grizzly bear has a big shoulder hump, long claws. The big hump and long claws of the

grizzly bear help it to get food. The long claws are useful in digging for roots or digging out burrows of

small mammals. The big muscles that make the hump is an adaptations for digging and for attaining

bursts of speed necessary for capture of moose or caribou for food.

In the winter when the grizzly bear's food is covered by snow or gone they enter their dens and

hibernate through the winter. Hibernating is a behavioral adaptation, the bears behavior has changed

from being active everyday to hibernating everyday. Hibernating makes the grizzly bears body

temperatures, heart rate, and and need for energy lower. Their need for food and water is eliminated.

The bears are able to live off fat they stored on their body in the summer and fall.



MOOSE

An adaptation of the moose is it babies. A moose can have one or two babies. the mother

helps to take care of the baby moose, just like your parents. The cow moose, that is the mother,

feeds her baby moose through nursing, until they are big enough to start eating the plants that she

eats. Baby moose have wobbly legs when they are born and could not run away if a predator came

after them to eat them, so the mother stays with her baby to protect it from predators. Having a mom

around is a good adaptation for a baby moose.



MUSKOX

Muskox have a thick fur coat to keep them warm in the winter, but they must also survive their

predators. The muskox change their behavior to protect themselves from predators. When danger

approaches, muskox run together. If only one predator is nearby, they form of a line. If several

predators surround the group, like a wolf pack, they form a circle with all muskox facing outward.

Sometimes a big bull will charge the predator. The muskox’s adaptation to protecting themselves

from wolves is very good.



POLAR BEARS

The largest bear in Alaska the polar bear has very special adaptations. Right now they can only

live well in one type of habitat, on the sea ice. The polar bear's adaptations to life on the sea ice

include a white coat with water repellent guard hairs and dense warm under fur. They also keep their

nose and ears small and fur covered to protect them from the cold. Their teeth are made for a

carnivorous instead of an omnivorous diet, and hair nearly completely covers the bottom of their feet.

But the polar bear is a recycler too! It recycles it body heat. You may have guessed the polar

bear has white fur to hide on the ice, but the white fur also acts as part of the heat recycling system.

But first we must talk about the skin of the polar bear. The polar bear has black skin and white fur.

The color black absorbs heat, very important when you live on the ice, but the color white reflects

heat. So what happens is as the polar bear gives off heat from its body the white fur reflects the heat

back at the skin and the black skin absorbs the heat keeping the bear warmer. A very complicated but

cool adaptation.



SALMON

There are many kinds of salmon in Alaska. Depending upon her size, a female salmon can

produce 2,000 to 4,500 eggs. That is a lot of eggs.

The eggs hatch during the winter, and the young sac-fry, or alevins, remain in the gravel, living

off the material stored in their yolk sacs, until early spring. Then they emerge from the gravel as fry

and move into lakes or rivers before returning to the ocean. During this time they are being eaten by

predators. With out a parent around to protect them the fry are easy prey. That is why the female

salmon lays so many eggs, so at least a few will survive to become adults.

Adult salmon will return to the stream they were born in to spawn after spending one to four

years in the ocean.



RINGED SEALS

Ringed seals weigh the most in the winter and early spring when they have a thick layer of

blubber under their skin. The blubber serves as insulation and as an energy source during the

breeding and pupping season. The females need lots of energy when they are feeding their pups

because the milk the mother gives the pups is almost 60% fat. This helps the pups to grow and put on

fat very quickly.



SNOWSHOE HARES

Snowshoe hares were made for living in Alaska. During the summer their fur is

brown, but for winter it becomes white. Their fur becoming white is an adaptation, it

makes it easier for the hares to hide from predators. Their big feet help them to get

around in the deep snow, like a pair of snowshoes. Snowshoe hares do not live

underground in tunnels or dens. They live under thick brush and in natural depressions.

Alaskan Animal Adaptations

What is an adaptation? Everyone has adaptations. Adaptations can change the way you look or the way you behave. Adaptations help a plant or animal to survive the cold, the heat, to find food, to use tools, to hide from predators, and much more.


WALRUS

The walrus has many adaptations too. It has big tusks for defending it territory to mating, thick

blubber to help keep it warm in the cold water, it will lay on the beach in the sun if it gets too cold. But

one adaptation most of us don't think about is the mouth of the walrus. Walrus eat several different

kinds of clams, snails, crabs, shrimps, worms, and occasionally seals. Only the fleshy parts of the

clam are eaten. But how do the walrus get the shells open?Some people think the soft parts are torn

away from the rest of the clam by strong suction. The mouth of a walrus is narrow, with an unusually

high roof, strong thick lips and a thick piston-like tongue. This creates suction kind of like a vacuum

sucking the clam out of the shell.

Desert Animal Adaptations



KENYAN SAND BOA

Boa constrictors are known as inhabitants of the rain forest, but the sand boa species are novel boas that have conquered the desert rather than stick to more humid environments. One of the smallest species of boa in the world, the Kenyan sand boa lives most of its life buried under the surface of desert sands or literally living under a rock.

In the cool of the morning and evening when the harsh desert sunshine fades, the Kenyan sand boa emerges from its lair to track, subdue, suffocate, and finally consume its prey whole. It is the sand-dwelling lifestyle of this species that has given rise to some remarkable behavioral adaptations relating to mating and feeding as the snake interacts with its desert environment.

The eyes and nostrils of the Kenyan sand boa are positioned on the head in a manner that limits intrusion of debris into these sensitive areas. Able to live beyond one year without food, this species uses the sand to its advantage while hunting in two ways.

First, the sand boa lies under the sand, seizing prey as it moves past the hidden snake. Second, small prey may be killed by being dragged under the sand and suffocated in the fine grains before consumption.

While feeding supports individual survival, mating promotes the survival of the species, and in this latter area, sand may get in the way. To reproduce, the necessarily persistent male sand boa may actually have to dig his female love interest out of the sand to gain the opportunity to mate with her.




SANDFISH

Not actually a fish but a lizard, the sandfish is a distinctive species of skink native to desert environments of North Africa and Southwest Asia. Measuring 15 centimeters (6 in) long with a tan color that assists the lizard in blending in with the desert, this delicate-looking reptile is actually an exceptional specimen of hardy wildlife and desert adaptation.

The sandfish is named after its ability to actually swim through the desert sands, enabling efficient movement and apparently saving it from some of the harshest of the Sun’s rays by being in the sand rather than always on top of it. Able to travel under the sand at considerable speed, sandfish move their legs in a manner comparable to a human swimmer’s crawl stroke as they maneuver and propel themselves among the grains.

A lifestyle of sand swimming requires a further set of special adaptions to withstand its inherent liabilities. Sandfish have smooth, sparkling skin with scales that shine and appear almost fishlike due to their gloss, minus any slime, of course, since reptiles boast dry skin.

However, the toughness of their skin, hidden by its apparent delicacy, allows the sandfish to swish and swerve its way through highly abrasive, silica-based desert sands that would strip many other creatures of their protective covering in short order. Scales cover the ear openings, and transparent eyelid scales protect the sandfish’s vision from the onslaught of grains.

The sharp snout and countersunk jaw allow the animal to push forward into the sand while avoiding the harmful injection of sand grains during movement. Mystery still surrounds some details of sandfish ecology, with more to be discovered about their feeding habits.




BREWER’S SPARROW

A remarkable application of basic chemistry allows the drab-looking Brewer’s sparrow to survive in deserts where life-giving water is in extremely short supply. Birds typically obtain the majority of their water through soft, wet plant foods, water sipped through the bill from leaves and streams, or the blood and tissue of animal prey.

For much of the year, the desert-dwelling Brewer’s sparrow of North America does not have many luxuries or options when it comes to water sources. This bird feeds largely on seeds which are exceedingly poor in water content but contain carbohydrates. When broken apart, carbohydrates reduce to carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. When the latter two elements are broken away from carbon and reunited, dihydrogen monoxide (H20), or water, results.

Such “metabolic water,” as the by-products are known to scientists, is produced by all animals, even humans. The Brewer’s sparrow cannot survive entirely on metabolic water, but its ability to derive a significant amount of metabolic water is a tremendous asset in challenging drought conditions.

Compared to larger life-forms, small birds such as the Brewer’s sparrow have an exceptionally high metabolic rate. With its increased metabolic activity, this songbird can produce a greater degree of metabolic water than a larger animal, compensating somewhat for its vulnerability to water loss in desert conditions.

http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/brewers-sparrow

http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/brewers-sparrow

Desert Animal Adaptations What is an adaptation? Everyone has adaptations. Adaptations can change the way you look or the way you behave. Adaptations help a plant or animal to survive the cold, the heat, to find food, to use tools, to hide from predators, and much more.


SANDCAT

Tiny, sandy, and feline to the fullest possible extent, the sand cat resembles a house cat and stands out as the only species of cat that can be correctly classified as a true desert dweller. The sand cat, Felis margarita, is native to North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia.

At 24–30 centimeters (9–12 in) tall, the sand cat weighs 1–3 kilograms (3–7 lb) and comes with a perfect suite of adaptations that make this animal uniquely capable of handling the challenges of desert life. Sand cats boast special padded paws covered with long, tough hairs that protect the cats’ feet from hot sand and also help to support their weight among the shifting grains, preventing the cats from sinking.

Extra-large eyes aid the tan-and-reddish striped sand cat in spotting prey, while the large ears gather sound which does not carry as well in the dry desert environment. A thick coat plays a critical role in both insulating the feline from the hottest of summer conditions and protecting it from hypothermia during cold desert nights as the hottest deserts are very cold due to the lack of moisture to retain heat.

Several interesting physical and behavioral adaptations further define the unique life of sand cats. Equipped with dull claws that do not fully retract, sand cats creep along low to the ground, leaving barely a footprint and avoiding burns due to the thick fur on their feet. Burying themselves in the sand or hiding under a bush, the cats are secretive and scarce, presenting a challenge to the biologists willing to study them.

Unfortunately, sand cats are classified as “near threatened” due to increased predation, drought, habitat loss, and human persecution of these remarkable cousins of the ubiquitous domestic cat.

http://www.wildcatconservation.org/wild-cats/africa/sand-cat/



DESERT TORTOISE

While a vast range of shelled reptiles make their homes in wet forest environments, swamps, and the open oceans, chelonians have also conquered the desert. Native to the deserts of the southwestern United States, the desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii and its close, recently split relative, Morafka’s desert tortoise Gopherus morafkai, without fail stand out as remarkable examples of adaptation to desert climes. While the animals look like the biological equivalent of rocks, they have a secret to survival hidden inside those hard, dry shells—exceptional water storage capacity.

The desert tortoise has an impressive but peculiar physical adaptation that allows improved hydration management. This adaptation comes in the form of an oversized bladder that can carry extra water. In this specially evolved bladder, a desert tortoise can carry greater than 40 percent of its weight in urea, uric acid, nitrogen-based wastes, and water.

In wet conditions, the tortoises excrete waste and drink extra water to store in their bladders. As a result, alarming a desert tortoise may prove to be exceedingly dangerous to its survival, causing it to abandon its reserve of water due to fear-based urination.

With their thick rear legs and flatter front feet, desert tortoises have an easier time walking in the sand. In fact, these strong feet are used to carry out an ingenious behavioral adaptation. Desert tortoises dig holes in the ground to catch rainwater before drinking and storing the water in their bladders.

http://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Desert%20Tortoise.php



DESERT COCKROACHES

Looking for all the world like modern, land-dwelling trilobites, different species of desert cockroaches make their way through the shifting sands and stones of the Earth’s deserts. In the United States, Arenivaga erratica (Latin for “sand wanderer”) is found. Making ridges in the sand as it moves, the desert cockroach has several captivating adaptations that equip it especially well for desert life.

Finding innovative ways of gathering or retaining water are the hallmarks of desert evolutionary adaptation. In the case of desert cockroaches, a pair of small bladders are located in the mouth. These function by condensing available water from moisture in the air and then conveying it back into the cockroach. Barring any blockage, these bladders will function and deliver moisture to the cockroach.

It is the nocturnal female that looks so close to a trilobite, being wingless and spending time in burrows during the day to avoid light. In contrast, the diurnal, winged males look more like normal cockroaches and are attracted to sources of light.

Being a desert animal, it is also not much of a pest as it has less overlap with humans than many other cockroach species. Feeding on the roots of desert plants allows the desert cockroach to survive while remaining under cover, away from the Sun and predators.

http://www.pestnet.com/cockroach/sand-cockroach/



GILA WOODPECKERS Forests with their vegetation and generally higher levels of moisture create the structural diversity and ecological niche types required by an impressive array of birds that use trees in every imaginable way. Deserts might seem completely opposite to the conditions in which forest birds thrive. But remarkably, the relatively waterless desert supports an ecological equivalent structure in the form of giant saguaro cacti that host several equivalent birds.

Gila woodpeckers drill into the forest-treelike trunks of the cacti, sheltering and nesting in that space. In turn, tiny owls known as elf owls live and nest in the cavities in the treelike trunks and holes of the giant cacti. All in all, we see the makings of a veritable cacti-supported forest ecosystem right in the desert.

If that were not enough, many small songbirds perch and nest among the cacti stands. The largest and most impressive North American wren, the cactus wren, specializes in life among the cacti, even feeding on the fruit in contrast to smaller, almost exclusively arthropod-eating shrub, marsh, and woodland wrens.

The ecosystem resources go even further for at the top of the cacti, dramatic flowers bloom. Flowers produce seeds and nectar, paving the way for songbirds to feed on seeds while desert-dwelling hummingbirds sip from the flowers on top of the cacti. Finally, white-winged doves make their nests in cacti while feeding on the rich, juicy flesh of the cactus fruits.

http://www.kuriositas.com/2012/01/saguaro-cactus-and-its-greedy-guests.html



AUTRALIAN THORNY DEVIL The normal way to get water would seem to be drinking through the mouth. The best way to get water in a desert might appear to be through access to an oasis or the consumption of succulent plants or prey items, however scarce such resources might be.

However, scientific research has shown that another, exceptionally ingenious, and biologically advanced method of gathering water for internal rehydration has emerged among certain lizards. Through examination of Australian thorny devil and Texas horned lizard skin and scale structures, a bizarre physiological adaptation has been discovered. The skin of lizards prevents water loss and also keeps water from getting in through the skin, but a novel way in which lizard skin assists in precision water gathering has developed.

Through the process termed “cutaneous water acquisition” as described in the case of the Australian thorny devil, these lizards use miniature, tubelike channels to absorb and then direct water from the point of contact cumulatively toward the mouth of the lizard. Upon reaching the slightly indented corners of the lizard’s mouth, the water is then sucked in and consumed. Through this adaptation, the lizards are able to gather and then concentrate the water gleaned from rainfall, damp sand, and pools of water encountered on occasion.

http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/thirsty-try-drinking-through-your-skin/



DESERT PUPFISH Some like it hot, and others just have to get used to it. Adapted over generations to exceedingly warm water conditions, the various species of desert pupfish are examples of how the desert environment drastically influences even the few aquatic habitats occurring within its bounds.

The desert pupfish are representative of the extremophile class of animals. While desert-dwelling fish might seem to be a contradiction, they are a reality of desert wildlife diversity. Desert pupfish are considered to be living fossils, offering evidence of a historic interconnection among lakes and survival through natural selection to adapt to shrinking and heating bodies of water, including desert pools, springs, marshy patches, and streams.

The adaptations of certain desert-dwelling pupfish can reach extraordinary levels, leading to remarkably restricted ranges, endangered species status, and unimaginable temperature tolerance. The rare Devil’s Hole pupfish lives in an area just over 1 meter (3

http://sciences.unlv.edu/desertsurvivors/Pages/episode4.htm

ft) wide with a significantly greater depth, while the desert pupfish can survive temperatures of 43 degrees Celsius (110 °F).

The extreme nature of these fish’s adaptation set stands out in many ways, including their remarkably short life span. Devil’s Hole pupfish, recognized and protected legally as an endangered species, may live for only six months to one year. All in all, pupfish stand out as an example of the ability of animal life to ensure that even the most nonstandard habitats are colonized.



ROADRUNNER Drinking urine as a last resort for survival may be well-known as an option for humans in the desert, but the greater roadrunner of cartoon fame takes waste product–based survival to the next level in its curious approach to desert life. One of the roadrunner body’s primary ways to tackle water conservation is sure to at once disgust and astound the naturalist. This animal uses water withdrawal and reabsorption from fecal waste.

After consuming a meal, the roadrunner’s digestive system retrieves water from the bird’s feces as they sit in the excretory canals. Prior to elimination, the water is

withdrawn through this advanced, unappetizing, and peculiar physiological process, and only then the feces are expelled.

The absorption feat is accomplished through the villi projections in part of the intestinal tract, which absorb water through blood vessels. After absorption from the feces through the blood vessels, the water is transported from the villi into the bird’s bloodstream.

While this adaptation certainly aids survival, one spare tire may not be enough. So the roadrunner has two more impressive hydration management adaptations. One is to hunt prey that provides water through tissue and blood after consumption. Another is to secrete excess salt through glands located above the bird’s eyes. Such desalination glands are typically found in seabirds, not in land birds.

http://www.desertusa.com/birds/roadrunner-bird.html

http://www.desertusa.com/birds/roadrunner-bird.html

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