What is Adaptation?
A change in the structure and function of an organism that results from a natural process by which an organism is better fitted to survive and also multiply in an environment is called adaptation.
What is Adaptation Theory?
Adaptation theory is also referred to as the theory of survival of the fittest which is an organism’s ability to adapt to an environment and adjust with time. The scientist who came up with his theory is Charles Darwin who conducted experiments in Galapagos island in the 1830s. Before Darwin, there were many other scientists such as Empedocles, Aristotle, William Paley, Lamarck and Buffon who accepted the fact that species change with time but did not understand the underlying cause for this change or that adaptation was a continuous process which does not have a final form.
Adaptation theory suggested that with habitat change, there are three other changes that take place: habitat tracking, genetic change, and extinction.
Habitat Tracking: When an organism which used to live in the environment, finds another environment which is similar to the previous one to which it has inhabited before.
Extinction: When species are not able to adapt to the new environment or move out and find a new environment to live in, they eventually die out and become extinct.
Genetic Change: Genetic change is natural selection that allows the organism with slight mutations to survive better in an environment when compared to the other organisms in a given area.
Example - Darwin observed the turtles living on two islands. The turtles in one island ate from the lower ground due to which they had shorter legs and straight shells. When these turtles migrated to another island, where the food resources were at a height, turtles with longer legs were able to eat and survive and reproduce. With time their necks also grew longer, and their shells became round and these adaptations were passed on to generations for the turtles living on that island.
What Causes Adaptation?
Adaptation could occur due to mutation or natural selection. Mutation is the sudden genetic change which could be accidental or random. Mutation will arise due to any change in the nucleotide sequence of DNA and if a single pair of nucleotides is replaced. Certain mutations are harmful to human beings while certain mutations could be advantageous to the survival of an organism in the struggle for existence.
Example - A bird is born with a long beak and this helps it capture food and therefore survive better. This bird is, therefore, able to survive better and breed more. This gene continues to be inherited generation after generation.
Natural selection is the process in which individuals with survival advantages will survive in an environment and those with less advantageous traits will die due to the pressure from the environment. In an area, the resources are fixed or limited. There is competition among the species of that area to fight for the available resources. In a population, some individuals have the traits which could be structural or behavioural that make them better at surviving and reproducing. In the struggle for existence, some individuals show variable variations that have a reproductive advantage and produce more offspring than other species. Any unfavourable variation selects out against their presence, conferring a selective disadvantage on that organism.
Example - Different species of finches existed on Galapagos island, the variation among them was in their beak characteristics. Nature selected the most suitable beak against the less useful ones.
What are the Different Types of Adaptations?
Adaptations could be of various types:
1. Structural Adaptations
Structural adaptations are the changes to the structure of a living organism to adapt better to an environment. These structural modifications affect an animal at many different levels and such changes are highly visible adaptations, one can fully identify these changes with naked eyes.
Example - How desert plants have adapted to the desert conditions where there is a very little amount of water available and the temperature is high. Plants called succulents have adapted to the desert conditions by storing water within themselves to compensate for the lower water availability.
2. Behavioural Adaptation
Behavioural adaptation is the change in the behavior of an organism to survive better in an environment. Behavioural adaptations are not easy to identify and many a time requires careful field and laboratory studies to bring them to board light.
Example - Migration- bird migrates to the south in winter as there is more food available, but some birds also do migrate for the purpose of reproduction.
3. Physiological Adaptations
Physiological adaptations are a body process that helps an organism survive/reproduce better in an environment. These adaptations could be the different ways in which an organism responds to the stimuli from the environment. These changes are typically based on body chemistry and metabolism, thus usually can’t be seen from the outside. Laboratory studies that measure the contents of various body fluids are often needed to trace these types of Adaptations.
Example - An animal which is living in cold regions will have features like thick fur and short ears to reduce the heat loss. The physiological adaptation here is the shivering to generate more heat when it gets cold.
4. Coadaptation
Co-adaptation when two or more species are symbiotically bound to each other for their survival and adapt together, it is called co-adaptation.
Example - Humming birds have long beaks which helps the bird capture nectar from specific plants during which it gets dusted with pollen grains. In this way, the pollen grains are distributed, and the hummingbirds get their food.
Why is Adaptation Important for Species?
Every organism has a natural habitat which is home to the organism. This is where the basic needs of the organism like food, shelter, water and other needs are met. All organisms need to adapt to their habitats to be able to survive. An adaptation is a change to the structure or behaviour of the organism which helps the organism survive better in the habitat. This means the organism will have to adapt to the climatic conditions, predators and compete for the same resources with the other organisms living in that habitat.
Animals live in an environment where there are several factors like climate, the kinds of plants and other animals that may be predators or might compete with them for resources. The animal must adapt to all these factors to survive.
Adaptation protects the animals from their predators. One good example is the ability to camouflage. Camouflage is an adaptation that helps an organism blend in with the surroundings so that it is not noticeable. Adaptations also help the organism protect themselves from the harsh weather. In Alaska, where the temperature is very low the animals store food in their body and protect themselves from the cold climate with thick furs.
Conclusion
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FAQs on Adaptation
1. Give examples of two different types of adaptation that happened in the animal kingdom.
Examples of different types of adaptations are as follows:
Two turtles live on two different islands. One island has food available on the lower ground, where the turtles develop shorter legs and straight shells. And the other islands have food at a relatively higher orientation, the turtle living here, got themselves longer legs and round shells, their necks were longer too. These kinds of adaptations often happen in nature and are inherited. It falls under the Structural type of Adaptation.
Many aquatic mammals like Dolphins, do not have gills to breathe underwater and thus have to come over the surface of the water in order to breathe, but for most species coming to the surface of water frequently will make them vulnerable to predators. Hence, these mammals adapted themselves to hold their breath for a very long period of time.
2. What is an adaptation in ecology and evolutionary biology? Can Vedantu help with proper notes from the chapter Adaptation?
Yes, Vedantu can help their students with proper notes. Like many terms in science, the word “Adaptation” is also derived from the Latin word “adaptō” which basically means “I adjust to” or “I fit”. In ecology or evolutionary biology, Adaptation is the process in which the organism changes its behaviour, physiology, or structure in order to better fit or survive in its ever-changing environment. Change is the rule of nature, and only that species will be able to survive, which continues to change its physical or behavioural characteristics in accordance with the ever-changing environment. For example - A huge variety of animals use camouflage to protect themselves.
3. Provide details about some of the specific body parts of animals that they got due to adaptations.
Many animals have developed some special body parts as part of adapting to their environment. Some of these body parts are:
Wings: Wings can be considered the most highly visible adaptation in many animals. The ability to fly provides animals with a lot of advantages over the species without flying. They provide great mobility to the animals and are great for protection from the ground animals, some even use them to catch their prey.
Hooves: Hooves is one very important adaptation for large-sized mammals. Hooves are mainly helpful in locomotion in harsh environments like rocky surfaces. Examples for this adaptation will be the legs of horses, Dall sheep and zebra.
4. What is the difference between behavioral and Structural adaptations?
The major differences between behavioural and Structural adaptations are as follows:
In structural adaptations, the physical features of the animals are changed, new body parts might develop or previous ones get modified, while in Behavioural adaptations, the animals start doing new things in order to survive, but their physical structures remain the same.
The development of scales in reptiles in order to protect their skin from the rocks and other sharp objects lying on the ground is an example of structural adaptations.
The migration of birds in order to get a better supply of food or for the purpose of reproduction is a type of behavioural adaptation.
5. Give some details about mimicry as per evolutionary biology (on the topic of adaptation).
Many animals have adapted to mimic other animals or objects to protect themselves from predators or even for the purpose of reproduction. Two Examples of mimicry in nature are:
Some harmless butterflies in the amazon rainforest had started to mimic poisonous butterfly species and the predators avoid both poisonous and the mimic, it is a type of anti-predator adaptation.
While some species of flowers had started to mimic the female counterparts of some insects in order to attract the males of those species for the purpose of pollination, without the need of providing nectar.
