What are adaptions?
-features that organisms have to make them better suited to their environment
What are specialists?
- organisms which are highly-adapted to survive in a specific habitat
- e.g. giant pandas are adapted to eat just bamboo
What are generalists?
- organisms that are adapted to survive in a range of different habitats
- black rats can survive in forests, cities and in areas of farm land
What do some organisms do in extreme hot conditions?
- extremophile bacteria have enzymes that work best at much higher optimum temperatures than other organisms
- these enzymes function normally at temperatures that would denature the enzymes of other organisms
What do some organisms do in extreme cold conditions?
- special antifreeze proteins
- these proteins interfere with the formation an growth of ice crystals in the cells, stopping the cell cells from being damaged by ice
What are biochemical adaptations?
-natural chemical adaptions to live in extreme conditions
What anatomical adaptions can reduce hear loss?
- thick coat or a layer of blubber to insulate the body and trap heat in
- having a large size and a compact body shape, to give a small surface area to volume ratio. This reduces heat loss as less body hear can be lost through the surface if the skin
- counter-current heat exchange system
Explain surface area to volume ratio
- a way of comparing how much surface area something has compared to its size
- small objects have large surface area to volume ration
- in cold environments, large organisms loos less heat to their surrounding than small organisms—because of their smaller surface area to volume ratio
How does counter-current heat exchange system work?
- blood vessels going to a from the feet pass very close to each other
- warm blood flowing in the arteries to the feet heats the cold blood returning to the heart in the veins
- the feet stay cold, but stops cold blood from cooling down the rest of the body
What are some behavioural adaptions to the cold?
- migrate to warmer climates
- hibernate, saves energy as the organism doesn’t have to find food or keep itself as warm as if it was active
What are some behavioural adaptions to hot environments?
- being active at night when it is cooler
- bathing in water, as water evaporates it transfers heat from the skin to the surroundings, cooling it down
- spending the day in shade or underground, to minimise heat gained from the surroundings
What anatomical adaptions increase heat loss?
- small, giving them a large surface to volume ratio, allowing them to lose more body heat to their surroundings
- large ears to increase surface area to volume ratio and help them lose heat. Large thin ears allow more blood to flow near the surface of the skin–so more heat radiates to the surroundings
- fat stores in just one part of the body (e.g.camel humps), stops the rest of the body from being too well insulated, and allows heat to be lost more easily
How have desert plants adapted to living in dry conditions?
- rounded shape, therefore small surface area to volume ratio to minimise water loss from surface
- thick waxy layer (cuticle) and spines instead of leaves to further reduce water loss
- storing water in their stems to allow them to survive in times of extreme drought
- shallow, but very extensive roots to ensure water is absorbed quickly over a large area
How have desert animals adapted to living in dry conditions?
- specialised kidneys that produce very concentrated urine, with a very low water content
- no sweat glands
- spending lots of time in underground burrows, , where the air contains more moisture that on the surface
