Section 2
Adaptations
Adaptations are any behavioral or physical characteristics of an animal that help it to survive in its
environment. These characteristics fall into three main categories: body parts, body coverings, and
behaviors. Any or all of these types of adaptations play a critical role in the survival of an animal.
Adaptations can be either physical or behavioral. A physical adaptation is some type of structural
modification made to a part of the body. A behavioral adaptation is something an animal does - how
it acts - usually in response to some type of external stimulus. When you look at an animal, you
usually can see some of its adaptations -- like what it is able to eat, how it moves, or how it may
protect itself. Different animals have many different ways of trying to stay alive. Their adaptations
are matched to their way of surviving. Each group of animals has its own general adaptations. These
groups are: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Some of these adaptations make it easy to
identify which group an animal belongs to. A good example of an animal adaptation is the way in
which an animal moves from one place to another.
Animals have evolved their adaptations. This means a long period of slow change resulted in an
animal's adaptation(s). The spots on the snow leopard, for example, did not emerge overnight.
Instead, this process took generation upon generation of snow leopards physically adapting to their
environment for characteristic spot patterns to evolve. Those snow leopards with spot patterns were
able to hide more successfully, therefore surviving longer than those without spots. This allowed the
longer surviving snow leopards to reproduce and create more snow leopards with spot patterns like
their own. Indeed, this process of change over time is the key to how many organisms develop
adaptations. Some adaptations can arise quickly through genetic mutations; these mutations also may
be deadly.
In the sections that follow, different types of distinctly visible adaptations and their importance will be
discussed. Since behavioral adaptations are far more difficult to observe, these will not be discussed.
However, the visible adaptations mentioned are easy to recognize on most animals at the Zoo and
should be of special interest to children.
Body Parts
Many animals have developed specific parts of the body adapted to survival in a certain environment.
Among them are webbed feet, sharp claws, whiskers, sharp teeth, large beaks, wings, and hooves.
Webbed Feet
In most aquatic animals, swimming is a must. To aid swimming, many animals
have adapted and evolved with webbed feet. Webbed feet help animals propel
themselves through the water with ease. This can help the animal swim faster to
catch prey or escape a predator. Also, if an animal has to swim long distances,
webbed feet can help it save energy so it can swim farther. One animal that can
be observed at the Zoo with webbed feet is the rockhopper penguin. Other
animals with slightly webbed feet: the polar bear and otter.
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