Hello, this isWild Suzhou.

Today, we willtalk about adaptations, and look at some interesting examples of adaptationsthat animals have made.

First, what is anadaptation? It’s how animals change so that they can survive better indifferent places. For example, animals that live in cold places might havethicker, warmer fur, like bears. Another example would be birds that live in ornear water, who have evolved to have webbed feet. These adaptations happenbecause they make life easier for the animals that adapt.

This idea ofadaptation is closely related to Darwin’s theory of natural selection, alsoknown as “survival of the fittest”. This means that some animals have traits,or characteristics, that make them survive better. A bear with thicker fur willdo better in the winter than one with thinner, less warm fur. The second bearmight even die. This means that the first bear will survive and reproduce, soits babies will also have thick fur and survive better.

There are threemain types of adaptations: physiological, structural and behavioral. Aninteresting physiological adaptation occurs in five families of Antarctic fish,who have a special protein in their blood that prevents their blood fromfreezing up. This stops the fish from freezing to death, and because this is souseful, these five families of fish make up 90% of all the fish in that area.An example of a structural adaptation would be giraffes, who have longer necksso they can reach leaves on tall trees. Finally, an example of a behavioraladaptation would be penguins huddling together to stay warm. Another would bebirds migrating in the winter, since they are looking for food and resources,and also a place to mate and lay their eggs.

For Wild Suzhou,I’m Ciana, thanks for listening and see you next time.