How Animals Adapt to Survive

Humans have many ways to defend and protect themselves. Medieval knights used swords and shields. What do animals have? Some animals have adapted to their surroundings by growing scales and scutes. Most people know that fish have scales, but animals such as snakes and sharks have scales, too. Scutes are like one big scale, almost like a shield, that protects the animals such as turtles, crocodiles, and pangolins. This book explores the many animals with scales and scutes, and highlights how these adaptations have developed over time.

Many kinds of animals live in Earth's oceans, and many of them have fins and flippers. These special adaptations have developed over the course of many thousands of years. They help animals maneuver through the waters in which they live and hunt. Penguins have flippers to make them move quickly through the water to catch fish to eat. Some fish use their fins to move at rapid speeds to catch their prey. This book explains flipper and fin anatomy and describes how these adaptations help the animals that have them. Conservation issues and threats to these animals' survival are also highlighted.

Camouflage isn't just a type of clothing that hunters and soldiers wear to blend into natural surroundings. Animals have camouflage, too. Camouflage often relies on colors, but patterns help animals blend in, too. The leaf-tailed gecko uses the color and patterns on its body to conceal itself from predators. Its body mimics the leaves of the trees in which it lives. Many predators use camouflage to sneak up on their prey. This book explores the many different animals that employ camouflage and how this incredible adaptation has developed over time.

Keeping warm in subzero temperatures can be difficult. Some animals can't manage to retain their body heat in cold weather. However, some animals such as the muskox have adapted to survive in cold climates. They have long, shaggy fur that keeps them warm in the colder months, which they shed in the summer months to stay cool. Other animals such as bears and seals have a layer of fat to keep them warm. The information in this book highlights how these adaptations have developed over many thousands of years. The information in this book supports essential elementary life science concepts.

How do animals such as birds, insects, and bats stay in the air? The answer of course is wings and feathers. Wings and feathers are important adaptations that have taken millions of years evolve. Feathers first appeared during the time of the dinosaurs, and birds are actually distant relatives of dinosaurs. Insects with wings appeared many thousands of years before feathers appeared. This book discusses how these adaptations benefit the birds, insects, and other animals that possess them. Vibrant photographs of flying animals are paired with manageable text to make this book both educational and engaging.

Many animals use their adaptations to defend themselves against predators, attack their prey, and compete for mates. Fangs and claws help animals do all of these things. However, these adaptations didn't appear overnight, they took millions of years. Animals such as tigers have both fangs and claws and use them to catch their prey. The information in this book explains how these adaptations appeared over time and how they benefit animals. Scientific discoveries are also highlighted to provide additional insight. Dazzling photographs of fangs and claws bring the subject matter into vivid focus.