Think of a species of life on Earth. Imagine what they look like, sound like...what they eat, how they move. In imagining this organism, you probably came across some pretty amazing features and behaviors. In biology, we refer to all of these things as adaptations, and life on Earth is full of amazing examples. An adaptation can be defined as an inherited characteristic that maintains or increases the fitness of an organism in its specific environment.
The “how” of adaptations has to do with natural selection and evolution, and that topic deserves it’s own month. However, adaptation and evolution are inseparable. In looking through his original observations, Charles Darwin found that certain behavioral and physical adaptations of organisms to different environments were possibly linked to the origins of new species. For Darwin, explaining the adaptations of species he saw on the Galapagos Islands in the 1830’s meant understanding the process of evolution, or change over time. Adaptations can generally be categorized as behavioral or physical. Behavioral adaptations are things that an organism evolves or learns to do to survive in its environment, whereas physical adaptations are beneficial physical characteristics. There are an unbelievable amount of adaptations on Earth, but the most common ones can generally be grouped into categories like movement, feeding, temperature regulation, camouflage, mimicry, hibernation, and predator-prey dynamics. Let’s check out the first of these. Movement is a pretty big deal in terms of surviving within an environment, especially in the animal kingdom. Think about birds. The evolution of flight involved a lot of different physical adaptations. First off, having a wing with feathers instead of an arm with skin has a lot to do with improved flight ability. Bird bones themselves are an adaptation that aids in flight- they’re actually hollow, and super light weight. Along those same lines, birds lay eggs to reduce the weight of carrying young, which allows easier flight. But flight is just one way of moving. The sleek body plan of fish, as well as fins, are adaptations that allow them to successfully swim. What about feeding? This category of adaptations can include both physical and behavioral examples. In general, being a carnivore or herbivore is a behavior- it’s something an organism does. But there are a bunch of physical adaptations that come along with having a certain diet, or feeding behavior. Just look at teeth! Sharpened canines and flattened molars are everyday physical adaptations that facilitate behavioral adaptations like diet type. Alright, so, you can probably see where this is going. Every living thing is made up of a combination of adaptations that allow it to survive in its environment, and we couldn’t possibly cover all of the different types.
