Science 4.2 "What Are Animal Adaptations?"

cryptic coloration

the use of color as a form of camouflage to blend into the background

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ex: a chameleon’s color matching the background

disruptive coloration

a form of camouflauge (usually spots/stripes) that break up the outline and shape of an animal, making it harder to see

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ex: a leopard’s spotted coat blends in w/ grasses + leaf litter in the ground so it can stalk its prey

countershading

a form of camouflage where an organism’s dorsal surface is darker, and the ventral surface is lighter

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ex: fishes + whales

batesian mimicry

a type of mimicry where two or more animals appear similar, but only one is dangerous to predators

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ex: the scarlet king snake (not poisonous) + the coral snake (poisonous) both have similar red, yellow, + black stripe patterns

mullerian mimicry

a type of mimicry where two or more animals look alike and both have strong defenses against predators

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ex: yellow jacket wasp + bumblebee both have bright yellow/black colors + use powerful stingers

taxis

an innate behavior that is the movement away or toward a stimulus

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ex: birds, seals, + even dung beetles navigate by starlight

estivation

a dormant state that helps animals survive a lack of resources in hot, dry weather

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ex: mudskippers use their fins on land, + then when its hot, they use their fins to dig a deep burrow to survive long, hot periods

classical conditioning

a learned behavior that associates one behavior with another unrelated one

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ex: when there’s a yellow and blue bowl, and there’s honey in the blue bowl, a bee will go to the blue bowl. But when bowls are switched, the bee will most likely go to the blue bowl because thats’ where it was last. through trial and error, the bee will later realize that the honey is in a yellow bowl.

operant conditioning

a learned behavior to modify future behaviors based on the past

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ex:

* a rat running a maze + receiving a food reward will most likely run the maze again
* a dog doing a trick + the trainer giving a treat after will most likely make the dog do it again

imprinting

a learned behavior that can occur only during a “critical period” shortly after birth

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ex: a young Greylag geese learns to follow the first moving object they see, described by Konrad Lorenz

physical adaptation

a body part or shape that helps an animal survive in its environment

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ex:

* a duck’s webbed feet
* carnivores’ sharp teeth + claws
* bird’s feathers
* owl’s beak

camouflage

a trait that enables an animal to blend in or hide in plain sight

* organisms can have one or more kinds of this

body shape camouflage

a type of camouflage where the shape of an organism’s body helps it blend in with its background

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ex: a katydid’s leaflike shape

warning coloration

the opposite of camouflage where animals use distinct patterns, contrasting colors, or bright colors to warn that they may have sharp spines, stingers, or a foul odor

innate behavior

an inherited behavior that is an inborn action in response to a stimulus

* the animal doesn’t have to learn the behavior, it inherits it from its parents

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ex: when a newly hatched sea turtle automatically goes to the ocean

reflex

an innate adaptation that is an automatic response to a stimulus

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ex: when insects have a simple startle + escape response

migration

an innate behavior that is the movement of animals (usually in large numbers)

ex:

* lesser black-backed gulls
* pacific salmon that migrate from streams (where they begin life) + the ocean . they go back the same stream every 3-4 years

hibernation

an innate behavior where you are in a state of inactivity similar to sleep

* in northern, temperate forests, some animals increase their body weight to store food when it gets scarce in the winter.

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ex:

* small hummingbirds may go semidormant for a few hours everyday
* bears

learned behavior

a behavior acquired during the lifetime of an individual

habituation

a learned behavior where an animal learns to stop responding to a stimulus overtime

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ex: when a worker of a restaurant stops noticing smells that used to make them hungry