FIELD ECOLOGY JOURNAL the college school
Zoology North Carolina Zoological Adaptations Adaptations are genetic traits that increase an organism's fitness. The fitness of an animal is a measurement of its ability to survive in a particular environment. A change in environment can make an organism's fitness increase or decrease. There are three main categories of adaptations. The first category is a structural adaptation. This is a physical change in an organism. The second category is a behavioral adaptation. This means that an organism changes how it interacts with their environment. The third category is a physiological adaptation, the body chemistry and metabolism of the animal. Before our trip to North Carolina, our group studied the adaptations of several animals in Missouri. One animal we studied and observed in North Carolina was the White-tailed Deer. White-tailed Deer are born scentless; this helps ensure that predators won’t find them. Another adaptation that helps the babies survive attacks from predators is an instinct to remain motionless when threatened (Animal Spot, 2019). When the deer are adults, they can sprint up to 30 miles an hour. This helps them get away from slower predators. Unfortunately, some of the White-tailed Deer’s predators are as fast as, or even faster than they are. To get away from their faster predators, the deer can jump up to 10 feet high and 30 feet outwards (UWSP, 2019). This helps them jump over fallen trees or bushes whereas predators would most likely have to go around. Even if this is not enough to get rid of the predator, White-tailed Deer are very talented swimmers. In the time that a deer jumps in the water, most predators do not want to follow them (Nat Geo, 2019). One of the many animals we studied in North Carolina is the Northern River Otter. These otters are remarkable swimmers and have webbed feet that help them to swim up to 9 mph. They propel themselves farther to get away from predators, such as bears, coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. (The National Wildlife Federation, 2019). Frequently they will purposely entangle themselves in seaweed so they do not float away with the current of the river. The River Otter’s tail is also very important. Their tails help them propel through the water, and their long, narrow bodies as well as flat heads are great for gliding through the water. Another adaptation is that their long whiskers are used to detect prey in cloudy or murky water (The National Wildlife Federation, 2019). Adaptations are an important part of zoology. They let us figure out how and what an animal does to survive in its natural habitat. An example of a structural adaptation is the White-tailed Deer. It has strong legs that can jump ten feet high. A physiological adaptation is an internal response to help an organism gain stability. One example is the Desert Lizard. 44
