Adaptation: this was borrowed from Medieval Latin adaptation, adaptātiō, from Latin adaptāre "to

ADAPT" this can thus be define as "adjustment to environmental conditions: such as adjustment of a
sense organ to the intensity or quality of stimulation. modification of an organism or its parts that makes it
more fit for existence under the conditions of its environment. An adaptation is any heritable trait that
helps an organism, such as a plant or animal, survive and reproduce in its environment. Organism can
inherit physical or behavioral trait that serves a specific function and improves it's fitness or survival.
Co-adaptation: Organisms sometimes adapt with and to other organisms. This is called coadaptation.
Certain flowers produce nectar to appeal to hummingbirds. Hummingbirds, in turn, have adapted long,
thin beaks to extract the nectar from certain flowers. When a hummingbird goes to feed, it inadvertently
picks up pollen from the anthers of the flowers, which is deposited on the stigma of the next flowers it
visits. In this relationship, the hummingbird gets food, while the plant’s pollen is distributed.
Pollinating insects are co-adapted with flowering plants: In coevolution, the existence of one species is
tightly bound up with the life of another species, new or 'improved' adaptations which occur in one
species are often followed by the appearance and spread of corresponding features in the other species.
Coadaptation can also limit an organism’s ability to adapt to new changes in their habitat. This can lead to
co-extinction. In southern England, the large blue butterfly adapted to eat red ants. When human
development reduced the red ants’ habitat, the local extinction of the red ant led to the local extinction of
the large blue butterfly.
Co- relationships are intrinsically dynamic, and may continue on a trajectory for millions of years, as has
occurred in the relationship between flowering plants and pollinating insects.
Mimicry: can be define as copying the way other organism behaves, or sound. E.g Amazonian butterflies
developes mimicry. This is the mimicry by a palatable species of an unpalatable or noxious species (the
model), gaining a selective advantage as predators will avoid the model organism and therefore also the
mimic. Mimicry is thus an anti-predator adaptation. A common example seen in temperate gardens is the
hoverfly, many of which though bearing no sting, mimic the warning coloration of hymenoptera (wasps
and bees). Such mimicry does not need to be perfect to improve the survival of the palatable species.
In mimicry, one organism has adapted to resemble another. The harmless king snake (sometimes called a
milk snake) has adapted a color pattern that resembles the deadly coral snake. This mimicry keeps
predators away from the king snake.
The mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) has behavioral as well as structural adaptations. This
species of octopus can copy the look and movements of other animals, such as sea snakes, flatfish,
jellyfish, and shrimp.
Behavioural adaptation:
Behavioral adaptations are changes in behavior that certain organisms or species use to survive in a new
environment. Organisms adapt and change to make their lives more comfortable, especially when faced
with new circumstances and surroundings.
Examples of behavioral adaptations are: Diurnality and Nocturnality, or the migration of birds.
Behavioral adaptations are mostly learned, not inherited.
Diurnality is the trait of an organism that is active during the day, while nocturnality describes the ones
that are active during the night. The reason for the development of a nocturnal lifestyle could be because a
species has better chances of surviving during the night. There could be predators roaming about during
the day, so certain animals adapted their behavior to be able to lead normal lives during nighttime.
The goal of behavioral adaptations does not need to be the survival of a species exclusively, or even the
possibility to raise the chances of survival. There are numerous reasons why animals or other organisms
adapt to their environments. For example, the females in certain species of flies will only mate with male
flies that feature more unusual traits. This behavior does not influence their chances of survival at all.
However, it helps in the development of genetic variation, and with that, their entire species can live more
successfully.
Most other kinds of adaptations can be inherited, but behavioral adaptations are learned in the majority of
cases. An example we can use to illustrate better this is the differences between animals that are living in
the wild and those that live with humans. Animals in the wild are afraid of humans and will often run
away when they see us; however, those living in urban areas know their way around us.
They mostly see humans as a source of food and tend to behave in a way that they believe will bring them
something to eat. This is an example of a behavioral adaptation that was learned and not inherited.
Seasonal migration is an example of a behavioral adaptation. Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus)
migrate thousands of kilometers every year as they swim from the cold Arctic Ocean in summer to the
warm waters off the coast of Mexico to winter. Grey whale calves are born in the warm southern water,
and then travel in groups called pods to the nutrient-rich waters of the Arctic. Migration of birds ; Some
bird species fly south in the fall to escape the cold winter. Changes to the way an animal lives that are
made to stay alive are almost always behavioral adaptations. Our world is continually changing, so
animals need to find various ways to deal with those changes. Physical adaptations can serve that purpose
as well.
Chameleons can change the color of their bodies. They do this to hide from their enemies, which is one
of the ways they try to survive. Animals that can adapt to their environment survive and are able to breed
and continue their species. The physical adaptations that helped them survive are passed down to future
generations, as well, by learning.
Structural adaptations are physical features on an animal that have evolved over time to help them
survive and breed. Adaptations usually occur because of gene mutations or changes by accident. For
example, if one day a bird is born with a longer beak which helps him/her eat more food and is therefore
healthier, that bird lives longer and breeds more passing along it's genes for a longer beak. Over time
animals who are better adapted to their enivronment survive and breed more often, furthering the spread
of their genes and adaptations to further generations. The chacteristics that do not help the species or
hinder their survival slowly disappear because those individuals do not breed as much, or do not live long
enough to breed.
Horse legs are great for running on grass, but they can't scratch their backs; mammals' hair helps
temperature, but offers a niche for ectoparasites; the only flying penguins do is under water. Adaptations
serving different functions may be mutually destructive. Compromise and makeshift occur widely, not
perfection. Selection pressures pull in different directions, and the adaptation that results is some kind of
compromise.
Antlers of the Irish elk, (often supposed to be far too large; in deer antler size has an allometric
relationship to body size). Obviously, antlers serve positively for defence against predators, and to score
victories in the annual rut. But they are costly in terms of resource. Their size during the last glacial
period presumably depended on the relative gain and loss of reproductive capacity in the population of
elks during that time. As another example, camouflage to avoid detection is destroyed when vivid
coloration is displayed at mating time. Here the risk to life is counterbalanced by the necessity for
reproduction.
Slender, long bodies of Stream-dwelling salamanders: such as Caucasian salamander or Gold-striped
salamander have very slender, long bodies, perfectly adapted to life at the banks of fast small rivers and
mountain brooks. Elongated body protects their larvae from being washed out by current. However,
elongated body increases risk of desiccation and decreases dispersal ability of the salamanders; it also
negatively affects their fecundity. As a result, fire salamander, less perfectly adapted to the mountain
brook habitats, is in general more successful, have a higher fecundity and broader geographic range.
The peacock's ornamental train (grown anew in time for each mating season) is a famous adaptation. It
must reduce his maneuverability and flight, and is hugely conspicuous; also, its growth costs food
resources. Darwin's explanation of its advantage was in terms of sexual selection: "This depends on the
advantage which certain individuals have over other individuals of the same sex and species, in exclusive
relation to reproduction. The kind of sexual selection represented by the peacock is called 'mate choice,'
with an implication that the process selects the more fit over the less fit, and so has survival value. The
recognition of sexual selection was for a long time in abeyance, but has been rehabilitated.
Bipedalism: The conflict between the size of the human foetal brain at birth, (which cannot be larger than
about 400 cm3, else it will not get through the mother's pelvis) and the size needed for an adult brain
(about 1400 cm3), means the brain of a newborn child is quite immature. The most vital things in human
life (locomotion, speech) just have to wait while the brain grows and matures. That is the result of the
birth compromise. Much of the problem comes from our upright bipedal stance, without which our pelvis
could be shaped more suitably for birth.
The long neck of a giraffe brings benefits Giraffe's long neck help them reach food high up in trees that
other animals cannot reach but at a cost. The neck of a giraffe can be up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length. The
benefits are that it can be used for inter-species competition or for foraging on tall trees where shorter
herbivores cannot reach. The cost is that a long neck is heavy and adds to the animal's body mass,
requiring additional energy to build the neck and to carry its weight around.
Other structural adaptations are: (Fishes's gills/ Beaver's large pointed teeth/ Duck's webbed feet/
Whale's blubber for sweeming a vestiged leg/ Snake's flexible jaw/ Bird's sharp eyesight different shapes,
sizes of claws and beaks/ Frog's strong legs to hop quickly and far/ Wings/Flying/ Fur/hair in Animals/
Scales in reptile and fish).
Feathers: were probably first adaptations for tactile sense or regulating temperature. Later, feathers
became longer and stiffer, allowing for gliding and then for flight.
Structural adaptation in plant is the way some plants have adapted to life in cold, wet, salty, or dry, hot
deserts. Plants called Xerophytes adapted to this climate by storing water in their short, thick stems, root,
leaves. Shed their leaves, leathery leaves, thick dried back.
Halophytes have adaptation for salty environments. Hydrophytes plants: can withstand excess water,
have more stomata which always open for transportation of excess water, leathers leave to prevent damp
and decay e.t.c.
A famous example of an animal adapting t o a change in its environment is England's Peppered moth
(Biston betularia). Prior to the 19th century, the most common type of this moth was cream-colored with
darker spots. Few peppered moths were gray or black, as the Industrial Revolution changed the
environment, the appearance of the peppered moth changed. The darker-colored moths, which were rare,
began to thrive in the urban atmosphere. Their sooty color blended in with the trees, which were stained
by industrial pollution. Birds couldn’t see the dark moths as well, so they ate the cream-colored moths
instead. The cream-colored moths began to make a comeback after the United Kingdom passed laws that
limited air pollution.