Animal Adaptation Essay
By: Sahiris Monsanto
It was a dry climate. It had lots of sand and barley any water, and there was this predator trying to feast on something like prey or “food.” It was looking very closely. But it could not find anything. But it heard rattle sounds. It kept looking but there was nothing. It was desperately looking around, but nothing was there. But suddenly it felt something, and that’s when it saw it. A rattlesnake blending in with its surroundings and the furious tricked predator pounced! Animal adaptations like “camouflage” are used to help animals survive in their environment.
Animals use camouflage to hide from predators or to hide to hunt for prey. Animals use camouflage for different reasons, but it is always to help them survive. Animals like snakes, owls, chameleons, arctic foxes, and squids, but the list could go on and on! I found most of this information in source 3 in paragraph 21. These animals camouflage to hide or attack! Some animals are born with having the same fur/color that fits its habitat and that helps them camouflage. Some examples of animals who have this are owls and snakes. This helps them hide from predators or pounce and attack to get their daily snack. It's also quite easy because if there is a predator close by you can easily hide because if you blend in with your environment you can hide somewhere as close as right next to you, and you'd be safe that way. But those aren't the case for other animals that can camouflage. Animals have a way to change colors on their own with something in their body. Animals that can do that are chameleons and octopus. Octopus can camouflage and you might wonder how they do it. Well, some people call octopus ”The chameleon of the sea” but the way that chameleons camouflage is weak compared to the way an octopus can. Octopus have something called chromatophores under their skin. Using a combination of pigment, nerves and muscles, the animal manipulates their chromatophores to change their external appearance. Chameleons, on the other hand, change color gradually. It can take up to several minutes for their transformation to complete. Maybe we ought to call chameleons jungle octopuses, or dirt squids. Although as you can see octopuses and chameleons both have different ways to camouflage, they use it for the same type of reasons. They both camouflage to hide from predators and find food.
Camouflage isn't the only way to protect yourself. Animals like millipedes and skunks have a repulsive stench they use to warn off predators. Before I start with the facts, I got most of my information in Source 2 paragraphs 13-17. Both millipedes and skunks have glands. Skunks wait a while to spray their stinky smell because they can only use it every ten days. If a miffed skunk goes through its stomping, hissing and puffing routine and still feels threatened, it’s time for it to release its full fury on the intruder. The animal will turn its back toward the victim, form its body into a horseshoe shape, lift its tail and let loose. Although millipedes also must wait to use their stinky smell. Millipedes can't see well so they rely on their antennas and sounds to see if danger is coming. Millipedes will either crawl into a ball and cover their soft parts and only show their spikey little legs, or use their awful smelling sent to get predators to stay away from them. Predators stay away from millipedes not only because they smell but also because their smell is poisonous and can even kill whoever gets it on them. So, by reading this we now know skunks and millipedes have many similarities with their disgusting stench. And even something else that they have in common is they both spray that foul-smelling toxin when they're frightened or feel threatened. Animals use this adaptation to keep their predators away!
Some animals cannot camouflage or spray a stinky smell, so they find other ways to survive. A way some animals use is “Mimicry and Trickery.” Some animals that use this technique are King snakes and the opossum use at least one of these strategies. In source 2 paragraph 9 the author stated, “King snakes are harmless; however, King snakes look a lot alike to Coral snakes, which are deadly.” So, King snakes mimic Coral snakes to trick predators. That proves that King snakes use mimicry to stay alive. It's actually very helpful because predators won’t bother trying to attack a Coral snake since they are deadly and will possibly end up dead. Now opossums use trickery to prevent themselves from getting eaten. I found this information in paragraph 10 in source 2. The opossum is known for playing dead. When predators decide they want a snack they most likely will not try to attack an opossum. That’s because they are “dead” but 99% of the time they aren't. Every time a fierce hungry animal gets near the opossum it will immediately start playing dead. They lay down, stick out their tounges, then secrete a weird substance to make them smell like a rotten dead animal. This will get animals to stay away but also get tricked. Although even if the King snake and the opossum have different ways to prevent becoming an animal’s dinner, they still use their ways for the same reason and almost every attempt is a success.
Clearly, animals have many adaptations. But many also have many ways like the ones listed in this essay. They don't all have different adaptations, but they don't all have same ways. Although even if these adaptations to stay alive won't help you live forever, but maybe they'll help animals survive for just a little bit longer.