Adaptation

Every habitat has its challenges: heat or cold, too much water or too little, predators to escape or prey to catch. Living things have features, called adaptations, that suit them to where they live. Adaptations build up over many generations.

Key facts

• An adaptation is a feature that helps a living thing survive in its habitat.
• Polar animals: thick fur or feathers and a layer of fat (blubber) keep them warm; white fur hides polar bears and Arctic foxes in the snow.
• Desert animals: a camel can go for days without drinking, stores fat in its hump, and has wide feet for walking on sand and long eyelashes to keep sand out.
• Desert plants: a cactus has spines instead of leaves to lose less water, a thick stem that stores water, and roots that spread wide to collect rain.
• Camouflage helps animals hide from predators or creep up on prey.
• Predators often have eyes at the front to judge distance; prey animals often have eyes at the sides to see all around.
• Some adaptations are behaviours: swallows migrate to warmer places, and hedgehogs hibernate through the winter.

Worked examples