Adaptations

 During our lessons on adaptation, we address the following questions.  1. Do different living things live in different places? Yes. All living things live in different places as the factors of the environment are no suitable to them. 2. What keeps living things alive? The food,water, shelter, shade , space , air and their habitat are the most important factors that keep things alive. 3. Are there other interactions required for survival? 4. What happens if the interactions in an environment change?Ans by Wei Bin :The populations of organisms in the environment would decrease or it would even be extinct. 5. Do all organisms deal with change in the same way? How are animals adapted to changes?Ans by Wei Bin :No. Some of the organisms migrate to other places or they heve certain adaptations on their body to help them survive in the harsh environment.

Below are some photos of the animals we discussed. Can you tell how each of them is adapted to their living environment? What kind of habitat does each of them live in? //**(YOU MAY EDIT THIS PAGE TO ADD ANY INFORMATION) **//

Message from Miss Khoo : Thank you for all the contributions! It's great that you are taking the trouble to extend your knowledge and posting so much information on the animals and matters relating to pollution. However, we should always be very careful when we post information for others to read. The information should be paraphrased/ written in your own words. It will be good to summarise the main points and organise them in a more readable and friendly manner instead of copying and pasting from another website. Explore the use of table (use the icon that looks like a table) on the "Editor" menu for the organisation of information. Let's keep this spirit of searching and sharing of knowledge going. Good job to those who have contributed.

> Zebras have shiny coats that dissipate over 70 percent of incoming heat, and some scientists believe the stripes help the animals withstand intense solar radiation. The black and white stripes are a form of camouflage called disruptive coloration that breaks up the outline of the body
 * [[image:Experiential_Learning_2009_006.jpg width="304" height="226"]] || [[image:Experiential_Learning_2009_011.jpg width="307" height="217"]] ||
 * * Is about 2.3m long and 1.25-1.5m at the shoulder
 * Is about 300 kg (some can grow to more than 410kg)
 * Is herbivorous
 * Are generally social animals
 * Can be seen in small harems to large herds
 * Black stripes on white body for camouflage
 * Huddle in a herd to hide from their predators
 * Have good eyesight and have night vision (not as good as its predators.)
 * Have good hearing, sense of smell and taste
 * Zebras, horses and wild asses are all equids, long-lived animals that move quickly for their large size and have teeth built for grinding and cropping grass. Zebras have horselike bodies, but their manes are made of short, erect hair, their tails are tufted at the tip and their coats are striped.
 * Zebras are important prey for lions and hyenas, and to a lesser extent for hunting dogs, leopards and cheetahs. When a family group is attacked, the members form a semicircle, face the predator and watch it, ready to bite or strike should the attack continue. If one of the family is injured the rest will often encircle it to protect it from further attack.


 * ====Zebras white and black stripes help them to escape from lions and other predators as the predators only see in black and white.it is better if the zebras run together in herds as the lion cannot concenterate on one zebras as all the zebras has black and white stripes.==== || * ===Average adult male - 1,191kg ===
 * ===Average adult female - 828 kg ===
 * ===Average height - 4.3m to 5.2m tall ===
 * ===Have long necks to reach out for leaves on trees and to spot predators from far to escape faster ===
 * ===Herbivores ===
 * ===Tallest of all land-living animals ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Covered in large, irregular patches of yellow to black fur separated by white, off-white, or dark yellowish brown background . ===

<span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Population: Giraffe populations are relatively stable. Lifespan: Healthy giraffes live about 25 years in the wild. <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Range: <span style="font-size: 60%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Giraffes can be found in central, eastern and southern Africa Habitat: Giraffes live in the savannas of Africa, where they roam freely among the tall trees, arid land, dense forests and open plains. Food: Their long necks help giraffes eat leaves from tall trees, typically acacia trees. If they need to, giraffes can go for several days without water. Instead of drinking, giraffes stay hydrated by the moisture from leaves. Behaviour: <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Giraffes are non-territorial, social animals. They travel in large herds that are not organized in any way. Herds may consist of any combination of sexes or ages. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> || || || a day and hunt sometime during the day but mostly at night. After 3 years, a young male lion will leave its pride and form its own pride to challenge other males.
 * [[image:Experiential_Learning_2009_015.jpg width="308" height="244"]]
 * Lions are carnivorous. They have sharp claws to tear the meat off their prey. They sleep 16 hours

//<span style="font-size: 9pt; background: lime; color: rgb(84,141,212); -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">Lions //<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(84,141,212);"> S~ their powerful hind legs help them to run faster than any other animal. (Q) B~ their loud growls warn others to keep away from them. (Q) B~ they use their claws and teeth to tear the prey’s meat. (Q) S~ they have good eyesight for hunting at night. (Q) S~ the mane helps to protect the lion’s neck when fighting. S~ their strong sense of smell helps them to locate the prey. (Q) B~ they use urine to mark their boundaries. (W) S~ their brown fur helps them to blend in with the surroundings. (W) B~ the lion hunts in packs. (W) B~ to conserve energy a lion sleep up to 21 hours a day. (W) QH:) (please ignore Q and W) ||
 * [[image:Experiential_Learning_2009_032.jpg width="264" height="231"]] ||  || == == ||
 * The **pelican** is a large water bird with a distinctive pouch under the beak. Pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica. They occur mostly in warm regions, though breeding ranges reach 45° south and 60° North. There are more than half a dozen species of pelicans, but all of them have the famous throat pouch for which the birds are best known. These large birds use their elastic pouches to catch fish—though different species use it in different ways.

Many pelicans fish by swimming in cooperative groups. They may form a line or a "U" shape and drive fish into shallow water by beating their wings on the surface. When fish congregate in the shallows, the pelicans simply scoop them up. The brown pelican, on the other hand, dives on fish (usually a type of herring called menhaden) from above and snares them in its bill. Pelicans do not store fish in their pouch, but simply use it to catch them and then tip it back to drain out water and swallow the fish immediately. The American white pelican can hold some 3 gallons (11 1/2 liters) of water in its bill. Young pelicans feed by sticking their bills into their parents' throats to retrieve food.

Pelicans are found on many of the world's coastlines and also along lakes and rivers. They are social birds and typically travel in flocks, often strung out in a line. They also breed in groups called colonies, which typically gather on islands.

In North America, the brown pelican is endangered, but populations are recovering to some extent. The sea birds were devastated by chemical pesticides, such as DDT, which damaged the eggs of pelicans and many other species. ||  || Ostriches usually weigh from 63 to 130 kg, although some male ostriches have been recorded with weights of up to 155 kg. The feathers of adult males are mostly black, with white at the ends of the wings and in the tail. Females and young males are greyish-brown and white. The head and neck of both male and female ostriches is nearly bare, but has a thin layer of down.<span style="font-family: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif;">A male Ostrich is called a rooster and a female Ostrich is called a hen. The ostrich does not bury it's head in the ground.It only lays it's head flat on the ground,making them look look a mound of earth from a distance.The ostrich does this to hide from predators. || The white tiger has sharp claws to tear its prey. Their diet is almost the same as the lions above. White tigers have a pink nose, pink paw pads, grey-mottled skin, ice-blue eyes, and white to cream-coloured fur with black, ash grey, or chocolate-coloured stripes.
 * [[image:Experiential_Learning_2009_008.jpg width="215" height="264"]] || [[image:hgfgghhghg.jpg width="296" height="240"]] ||  ||
 * The **ostrich**, //Struthio camelus//, is a large flightless bird, native to Africa. It is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs and the ability to run at speeds of about 74 km/h, the top land speed of any bird.The ostrich lays the largest egg of any bird species.

There are only around 200 of the white tigers left in the world. White tigers are an Asian species, found from the frozen tundra of the Soviet Far East, south to the humid jungles of Malaya and Indonesia, and west to the hot, hardwood forests of India. There are five living subspecies; three others are already extinct. Current estimates put the world population of wild tigers at about 5,000-7,000, the most numerous race being the Bengal race, distributed among some 18 tiger reserves and sanctuaries of India (and a half-dozen in Nepal and Bangladesh), accounting for over two-thirds of all wild tigers.

Tigers are a protected species all over the world. Even though it's completely illegal to hunt them, people are still slaying these beautiful creatures. ||  || lizards by the lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Like lizards, from which they evolved, they have loosely articulated skulls and most can dislocate their lower jaw in order to swallow prey much larger than their own head. In order to accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and they have only one functional lung.There are over 3000 kinds of snake in the world. Giants like the seven-metre long python can squeeze the life out of a large antelope and swallow it whole. Other snakes grow no longer than a pencil. Some live in the sea, some burrow underground, others climb trees. One species of fer-de-lance, a deadly viper, has been recorded swallowing prey that was 1.6 times its own body weight. The paradise tree-snake of South-east Asia can 'fly' through the air by flattening its body into an s-shaped ribbon. Like all reptiles, snakes rely on the heat of the sun to control their body temperature. That's why the greatest variety of species is found in the warm, humid tropical regions of the world. ||  || A seal has a streamlinebody and can swim smoothly in the water.It has two layers of fur to keep it warm and waterproof. <span style="color: rgb(51,102,102);">**There are 33 species of seal world-wide, two of which live around Britain.**
 * [[image:snake.com.sg.jpg width="299" height="299"]] || **Snakes** are elongate legless of the suborder
 * Serpentes** that can be distinguished from legless
 * [[image:sealion.jpg width="208" height="144"]]
 * <span style="color: rgb(53,87,120);">Scotland is an important breeding area for grey seals. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(51,102,102);">The grey seal population is estimated to be increasing by seven per cent a year. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(53,87,120);">Neither grey seals nor common seals are an endangered species. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(51,102,102);">Grey seals are larger than common seals, and have a distinctive profile. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(53,87,120);">Unlike whales and dolphins, seals give birth on land. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(51,102,102);">Seals are insulated from the cold by a thick layer of blubber. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(53,87,120);">Grey seals mate on land, but common seals usually mate in water. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(51,102,102);">Seals have sensitive whiskers that help them to detect prey in murky waters. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(53,87,120);">As soon as a pup is born, its mother forms a bond with it by smelling and calling to it. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(51,102,102);">Grey seals have been known to live for 46 years. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(53,87,120);">Some seal species have been hunted almost to extinction in some parts of the world. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(51,102,102);">In 1988 phocine distemper virus killed about 33 per cent of all common seals in the North Sea. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(53,87,120);">Oil spills are thought to cause breathing problems in seals, as well as damage to ears, nose and throat. **
 * <span style="color: rgb(51,102,102);">Seals are wild animals if approached too closely they will bite. ** || [[image:DSC00584.JPG width="292" height="218"]]

This is a male peacock. it has these beautiful feathers to attract females to mate with him. QH:) Mudskipper They live chiefly on mud flats and in brackish mangrove swamps and are adapted for remaining on dry land when the tide goes out. They have no special air-breathing organs, but absorb oxygen through the skin and gill chambers as long as these remain moist.Mudskippers, like most gobies are a very hardy fish to keep. They love live foods but will take dry fish food as well. Their behavior ranges from docile to active to very aggressive. They are very territorial and this behavior is exciting to watch as they raise and lower their dorsal fins in acts of aggression. It is better to keep more than one as a loner will rarely raise its dorsal fin. However keeping too many results in fighting which can lead to maiming and death. Loosing an eye or fin in not uncommon. They a very comical to watch as they leap around the aquarium. ||  ||