Throughout the history of this planet there have been countless animal speciesbut because of changes that happened in your habitatonly species capable of adapt to these changes, they got to surviveToday, the current amount of animal species who have not been faded awayis tiny compared to the total amount that has existed throughout the history of Earth.
It is for this reason that the adaptation to the environment is something essential for the survival of one animal species.
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What is the meaning of adaptation to the environment
Word “adaptationis defined as the capacity of a to be alive for accommodate in the medium, medium in which to liveso as to be able to survive and raise so that your species support and does not turn off. Whereas with the word “medium, medium“we mean, weatherrelief, vegetation, foodnatural and other disasters animals with those who must live together these living beings.
How can animals adapt to the environment?
The animals can adapt to medium, medium in three different ways: Adaptations morphologicaladaptations physiological and adaptations behavioral.
In this article, we will discuss these three factors and see how some species They obtained to evolve and adapt to the environment for to survive for millions of years.
Morphological adaptations
the morphological adaptations allow the animals adapt to ground or to livethat is, if they are terrestrial animalswho live in the countryside, these will develop, among other things adaptations those that will affect your locomotionfor example: clogsdeveloped muscles, etc.
the two main morphological adaptations possessed by animals are: camouflage and the mimicry.
Camouflage
camouflage is a coping mechanismvery useful when hide from predators or of hunt preysince it allows animal, become discrete. It is mainly used by reptiles although there are also many other species that use this mechanism to defend themselves or hunt. The clearest example of camouflage it’s him chameleon.
Mimicry
the mimicry is a phenomenon that occurs when two organisms they don’t keep no relationship among them, if they look like a lot to each other and you get a functional advantage he.
the mimicry grant to a harmless animal the ability to repelbased on sound deception predator make him think it’s over dangerous because of its resemblance to another animal with a defensive potential greater than his own, either because he is toxic or because it is simply more strong.
Although this is not the only use of the mimicry since this also has a large number of cases with different utilities.
When can mimicry save a species from extinction?
One of the cases, in which the mimicry can save one specieswould be the case of a highly poisonous snake found in danger of extinctionbecause their predators they cannot learn that it is dangerous, since pass away being bitten by it or ingesting it. His solution is to adopt aesthetic qualities from another living being with a poison to be incapable from to kill to his predatorthis is very useful since the predator that has Survivedjust like your specieslearns that this apparition identifies the animal What dangerous and so they lose interest in hunt him down.
physiological adaptations
the physiological adaptations are linked to the metabolism and the internal function from animalthese allow the animals, adapt under the conditions presented by the medium, medium they inhabit, such as: the Temperaturethe amount of light and the food shortage among others.
The main physiological adaptations are there hibernationthe aestivation and the adaptation to the type of food.
Hibernation
The hibernation intended to save energy during the winter, freezing climatesenter a state of drowsinesswhich reduces the metabolic functionsentering a state of hypothermia. The process of hibernation It usually lasts a few days or weeks.
aestivation
The aestivation it’s very similarly wing hibernationsince both have the same goal. That difference wing aestivation of the hibernationis it the aestivation occurs in hot climates like the deserts, when the animal enters a state of hyperthermia.
Adaptation to the type of food
The adaptation to the type of foodit’s a essential physiological adaptation for the animalssince these no always they can choose what to eatThey just eat what they can to survive. This adaptationtakes place mainly at times when some animals they must migrate to warm regions to can to survivethus forcing its principal predators for to look for a new food for a season.
behavioral adaptations
the behavioral adaptationsas their name suggests, refer to behavioral problems of one animal. These changes in your conduct They can occur for a variety of reasons, from their the reproduction to ensure the salvation of their species, until food fights.
As we have already mentioned before, there are various reasons or triggers for these changes in conductbut these previously mentioned changes do not always produce the same behavioral adaptationbut there are different types, the most common are the court and the migration.
courtship
the court is used by males for To attract to one Womenwith which they want pair To leave offspring of his speciesso that it lasts longer.
While courtThe males carry out dances, songs, exhibitions of his body and even they fight with others males for attract the femalethough in the latter case, they instead fight to see who stays with her.
The migration
By migrationSome animals they are moving in groups towards some sectorsin which, to find something these animal researchwell being females for raise, Heat not to Pass away Due to cold Where food for to surviveamong many other reasons.
Latest Findings
To end this article, we can highlight how final conclusionthat all the animals that exist in this worldwhether they are giants like a whale Where tiny like a Mouseshould adapt to to medium, medium in which to liveif you want your kind enduresince it is a change constant.
It should also be noted that the three types of adaptations that exist are: morphological, physiological and behavioralYes Being the most notable among these: The camouflagethe mimicrythe hibernationthe aestivationthe adaptation to the type of foodthe court and the migration.