AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -An adaptation is any heritable trait that helps an organism, such as a plant or animal, survive and reproduce in its environment.

Detailed explanation-2: -There are three types of adaptations: structural, physiological, and behavioral. Structural adaptations are how the animal’s body functions or looks on the outside. Body parts (like feet and ears) and body coverings (like fur and scales) are structural adaptations.

Detailed explanation-3: -Definition: A biological characteristic with a heritable basis that improves reproduction and/or survival and results from evolution by natural selection.

Detailed explanation-4: -A trait is an aspect of the whole or of a certain portion of the developmental pattern of the organism. An adaptive trait is, then, an aspect of the developmental pattern which facilitates the survival and/or reproduction of its carrier in a certain succession of environments.

Detailed explanation-5: -Examples include the long necks of giraffes for feeding in the tops of trees, the streamlined bodies of aquatic fish and mammals, the light bones of flying birds and mammals, and the long daggerlike canine teeth of carnivores. All biologists agree that organismal traits commonly reflect adaptations.