Natural Sciences Study Guide: Nutrition and Adaptations of Living Organisms

Classification of Living Things According to Their Nutrition

  • Autotrophic Organisms

    • Definition: Living beings that produce their own food through a process called photosynthesis, utilizing sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air.
    • Examples:
    • Trees
    • Grass
    • Mosses
    • Flowers
    • Ferns

  • Heterotrophic Organisms

    • Definition: Living beings that cannot manufacture their own food, requiring them to feed on other living beings or their remains.
    • Examples:
    • Human beings
    • Dogs
    • Lions
    • Cows
    • Fungi

Physical Adaptations

  • Camouflage

    • Definition: Physical adaptations where animals change or use their appearance to blend into their surrounding environment.
    • Examples:
    • Chameleon: Changes its skin tone to blend in with the environment.
    • Leaf Insect: Has a body that resembles a dry leaf.
    • Polar Bear: Possesses white fur that blends in with the snow.

  • Mimicry

    • Definition: Physical adaptations where an animal mimics the appearance of another organism to scare off threats or gain a survival benefit.
    • Examples:
    • Leaf Butterfly: Has wings that look like dry leaves.
    • False Coral Snake: Imitates the colors of the venomous coral snake to scare away predators.

  • Special Structures

    • Definition: Specific anatomical features developed to protect, nourish, or assist in the movement of an organism.
    • Examples:
    • Porcupine Quills: Protect the animal from predators.
    • Turtle Shell: Protects its body.
    • Eagle Claws: Allow it to catch its prey.
    • Hummingbird Beak: Long and slender to extract nectar from flowers.
    • Fish Fins: Help them swim with ease.

Physiological Adaptations

  • Hibernation (Surviving Extreme Cold)

    • Definition: An internal metabolic and physiological adaptation enabling animals to survive conditions of severe cold.
    • Examples:
    • Bears
    • Hedgehogs
    • Marmots
    • Bats
    • Wood frogs

  • Estivation (Surviving Extreme Heat and Drought)

    • Definition: An internal physiological adaptation enabling animals to survive extreme heat and drought conditions.
    • Examples:
    • Desert toads
    • Land snails
    • Certain lungfish
    • Desert tortoise
    • Thick-tailed pygmy lemur

Behavioral Adaptations

  • Definition

    • Behaviors or actions that animals learn or perform instinctively in order to survive or reproduce.

  • Migration (Traveling to Survive)

    • Definition: Long journeys made by groups of animals traveling from one place to another.
    • Purposes: Executed to search for food, escape extreme cold, or reproduce and have offspring.
    • Examples:
    • Monarch butterfly
    • Humpback whales
    • Swallows

  • Courtship (Attracting a Mate)

    • Definition: Specific behavioral displays such as dances, songs, gifts, or demonstrations of strength performed by animals.
    • Purposes: Serves to attract the attention of a potential mate and ensure that new offspring are born.
    • Examples:
    • Peacock: Opening and displaying its colorful feathers.
    • Frogs: Singing and croaking calls.
    • Bird-of-Paradise: Elaborate mating dance.