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Animal Adaptations for Self Defense

An adaptation is any characteristic that helps an organism to survive in its environment. Adaptations occur during natural selection and evolution. A characteristic becomes an adaptation when that characteristic gives an organism a better chance of survival. Most animals have adaptations to help them defend themselves against competitors or predators. For example, skunks spray a noxious liquid on any person or animal that they feel threatened by. This substance is very unpleasant and most animals avoid skunks after being sprayed one time. The bold black and white fur pattern of skunks helps animals remember the experience and avoid skunks. There are a wide variety of adaptations for self defense found in the animal kingdom. Some of these adaptations involve the structure, or physical properties, of an organism, and some of these adaptations involve how an organism behaves.

Physical and Behavioral Adaptations for Self Defense Many species of lizards have adapted an ability to detach their

tails. This helps them avoid being eaten by a predator. When a lizard feels threatened, it draws the attention of a predator to its tail by wiggling it back and forth. Lizards then contract the muscles in the tail—and it falls off. The tail will continue to twitch even after it has detached from the lizard’s body. To a predator, the twitching tail looks like an easy meal so, usually the

predator will go after the tail,

Skunks use a chemical defense against predators or any other animal they feel threatened by. This adaptation increases their chance of survival.

Geckos, like the one pictured here, are examples of lizards that can detach their tails when threatened by a predator.

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allowing the lizard to escape. Lizards use a combination of physical and behavioral adaptations in order to escape predation. Wiggling the tail is an example of a behavioral adaptation and detaching it is an example of a physical adaptation. The poison dart frogs are a group of frogs that are brightly

Animal Adaptations for Self Defense

colored and that have glands in their skin that produce toxic chemicals. Their skin is so toxic that it can kill other small animals if they attempt to eat one of these frogs. The frogs’ bright coloring acts as a warning to predators. Predators recognize that these bright colors mean that the frog is poisonous and they avoidthem. Having toxic skin and bright colors are physical adaptations of poison dart frogs. This group of frogs is active during the day, rather than at night. If these frogs were active during the night, their predators would not be able to see the bright warning colors. Being active during the day is a behavioral adaptation of poison dart frogs.

This illustration shows some of the many different brightly colored patterns found in different species of poison dart frogs.

Some insects mimic the predators they must protect themselves from. The swallowtail butterfly caterpillar has a pattern on its skin that makes it look like the head of a snake. One of the most important details about the caterpillar’s disguise is the fake eyes, or eyespots. When a predator approaches one

of these caterpillars, the caterpillar tucks its own head down and pushes up the part of its body that looks like a snake. Seeing a “snake” surprises the predators and they usually move on, leaving the caterpillar undisturbed. The specialized pattern on the caterpillar’s skin is a physical adaptation of swallow tail

When threatened, this caterpillar tucks its real head under its body and sticks out the part of its body that looks like a snake head.

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Animal Adaptations for Self Defense

butterfly caterpillars, but tucking their head under in the resence of predators is a behavioral adaptation. p

Sloths are mammals that live in trees in South America. Their method of self-defense is in the way they move. Sloths move very slowly and can spend several years in the same tree. Predators are very good at detecting movement. A sloth is hard for a predator to detect because its movements are so slow. Sloths also sleep curled up in a ball during the daytime, for about eighteen hours at a time. All of these behaviors help sloths avoid predators. Sloths also have grayish-brown fur, which helps them blend into the trees. This physical adaptation helps sloths remain unnoticed by their predators.

There are many examples of animal self-defense adaptations. Many animals use chemicals to make themselves taste bad or to poison their predators. Other animals mimic other predators to protect themselves. Some animals blend into their surroundings, or camouflage themselves, while other animals have bright warning colors. All animals have some type of defense to protect them against predators and to help them survive.

Sloths move so slowly that it is hard for predators to detect them.