Animals: Living and Surviving

Millions of years ago, huge animals called dinosaurs roamed the earth. Now there are no dinosaurs. Do you know why ? Some scientists believe this happened due to a sudden change in the earth's climate. They believe that it became very cold and the dinosaurs could not adjust to the cold conditions and died. In the natural world, a plant or an animal adapts or changes itself to suit its surroundings. This happens over hundreds and thousands years. This process is changing to suit the surroundings is called adaptation .

Living things that are able to adapt themselves to their to their surroundings survive. Those that cannot adapt die.

ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENT

A natural home of an animal in called a habitat . Animals can be grouped according to their habitat.  

Terrestrial animals

Animals like dogs, horses, cat, lion, tiger, hyenas live in land. They are called terrestrial animal . Such animals have legs to move and lungs to breathe. They have well developed sense organs and nervous system in order to sense the changes in their surroundings. Animals like snakes do not have legs. They have plates or scales that help them to crawl. Animals like polar bears and artic foxes live in cold region Antarctica and Himalaya. They have fur all over their bodies to keep them warm. They have fat under skin to be used as food in winter. The skin of desert animals have thick skin and not very hairy. It protects them from the heat of the sun. Some animals like lizards and frog sleeps for several months to protect themselves from the cold. This is called hibernation . 

Aquatic animals 

Animals that live in water called aquatic animals. Fishes, snails, turtle, crab and sharks are some aquatic animals. Such animals have fins or limbs suited for swimming and water. A webbed feet  of a duck and the paddle like flippers of a turtle help them to to push back water while swimming. Fishes and crabs have gills that help them to breath in water.

Amphibians

Animals that live in both land and water are called amphibians. Frogs, toads, salamanders and newt are some amphibians. They have limbs to move in water. The moist skin help them to breath in water. However, they also have lungs to breath in land.

Aerial animals 

Animals that fly are called aerial animals. These animals have wings to fly. Most birds and insects can fly. Bats are the only mammal that can fly. Animals which fly have a light body because the light bones and feathers. the shape of the body is such that it can easily cut through the air. 

Arboreal animals 

Some animals spend a lot of time in the trees. They are called arboreal animal. Monkeys, tree lizards opossums and squirrels are some arboreal animals. They have claws and board hip girdles to support their body while climbing. A monkey's long and curly tails helps it to swing from a branch. 

ADAPTATION FOR FOOD 

Animals eat plants or another animals. They can be classified into four groups according to the type of food they eat. Animals eat other animals are called its predators. 

Herbivores

Plant eating animals are called herbivores. Cows, goats, sheep, blackbucks and deer are some herbivores. They have sharp biting teeth and strong grinding teeth. They have long and strong legs to go long distance in search of food.

Carnivores 

Flesh-eating animals are called carnivores. Tigers, lions, cheetah, leopard and mountain lion are some carnivores. They have well-developed tearing teeth. Flesh-eating birds like eagle and vultures have sharp beaks and claws to catch prey and to tear flesh. 

Omnivores

Animals that eat both plant and flesh of other animals are called omnivores. Bears, crows and cockroaches are some omnivores.

Parasites 

Some animals live in other animals bodies for their food. They are called parasites. The animals on which parasites depend for their food are called hosts. Mosquitoes, leeches, hookworms and bugs are some parasites. They have suckers or sucking tubes to suck blood from their hosts.

ADAPTATION FOR PROTECTION

It is very important for animals to protect themselves and live long enough to reproduce. Let us read about the three most common ways by which animals save themselves from being eaten up by other animals.

• Fishes, houseflies and and frogs moves fast enough to escape from their predator
• Whales, elephants, hippo and rhinos are to big to be eaten by other animals.
• Tigers, zebras, leopards, jaguars and mainland clouded leopard have stripes or spots on their bodies which help them to merge or mix with their surrounding. This is called camouflage. 
• In polar regions, Artic foxes have brown coats in summer but grow white fur in winter. Their color merges with their surroundings and it become difficult to spot them. Thus, they keep themselves safe from their enemies. Insects like stick insects and the leaf insect look like what their name suggest! And that keep them safe.

It's A Fact:

The sabre- toothed tigers lived on this earth many years ago. They were also called sabres, i.e. two long pointed blade like canine teeth in their upper jaw. These tigers stopped existing about 10,000 years ago. However, the reason was extinction is unknown. Some say their prey disappeared while other the climate changes were unsuitable for them so they become extinct.