Animals and the Environment--Life Science jr high

camouflage

A defensive method that animals use to conceal their identity by modifying their appearance. It is used to disguise their appearance, usually to blend in with their surroundings. Animals also use this to mask their location or movement.

poison

A defensive method that animals use to protect against predators. The animal can inject venom into an attacker with the help of a stinger, fangs or claws.

shells or spines

A defensive method when animals have a hard outer covering to protect them against predators

Structural Adaptation

A feature of an organism's body that helps it to survive/reproduce

scavenging

A food gathering method that involves animals feeding on organic refuse such as manure (dung beetles, flies), leaf litter (snails, millipedes, earthworms), and dead animals (blowflies, vultures, hyenas, storks).

symbiosis

A food gathering method that involves animals living in a close physical relationship with another animal, the host, from which they benefit. Ideally, they steal food or consume host tissue at a rate that the host can tolerate, allowing the host to survive. Examples are: Egyptian plover and crocodile, remora fish and whales or sharks, deer tick and warm-blooded mammals, mosquito and humans.

predation

A food gathering method that involves killing other animals outright. Some defenses that hinder this method are: hard shells, toxins, the ability to fight back, or simply running or flying away. Strategies are: hunt in packs, collaborate to ambush prey, stalking, using lures to attract unsuspecting prey, employing camouflage so their prey does not notice them until it is too late, and using snares. Some examples of animals that use this method are: wolves, lions, cats, snapping turtles, angler fish, praying mantis, spiders, jellyfish.

Food Web vs Food Chain

A food web consists of many food chains. A food chain follows just one path as animals find food.

biome

A group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms.

Burrowing

A method of eating into a food, making a tunnel along the way. Examples: bark beetles, fly and moth larvae called leaf miners, and wood-boring termites on land. In the sea, shipworm clams and gribbles burrow through wooden piers and ships, causing enormous destruction. Earthworms and many marine worms also use this method. Advantages: being surrounded by food, but also are less exposed to predators.

suspension and deposit feeding

A method of food gathering when organisms consume the steady "rain" of organic matter that settles to the bottom of aquatic environments such as: living and dead plankton and bits of dead animal, plant, and algal tissue. Some pick this material from the water as it falls and some consume it after it settles on the bottom. Examples: sea anemones, corals, marine worms, crinoids, some bivalves, brittle stars, and sea cucumbers.

Food chain

A series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten

Extinct species

A species that was once present on Earth but has died out.

Endangered species

A species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction.

parasitism

A symbiotic relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed. Example is a mosquito and a human. The mosquito bites and sucks blood as nourishment from a human. The human loses blood and may also pick up diseases (malaria, West Nile virus) from the mosquito.

Incomplete metamorphosis

A type of change in which an insect hatches from an egg and then goes through several nymphal stages. At the final nymphal stage the insect then moults into the adult form. The adult form is often only distinguishable from the nymph by size and the presence of wings.

Complete metamorphosis

A type of change in which an insect passes through distinct egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages, and the larva does not resemble the adult.

alarm calls or signals

An antipredator adaptation in the form of signals emitted by social animals in response to danger. Many primates and birds use this method to warn other animals.

euryphagous

An organism that can consume a wide variety of different foods. Examples are humans, coyotes, opossums.

stenophagous

An organism with a very narrow range of foods. Examples are the Everglades kite (a small hawk) which feeds on just one species of snail, and many feather mites which can survive on just one species of bird.

mimicry

Animal defensive method where an animal looks like another more harmful animal, a part of another animal, or an inanimate object.

Subsocial

Animals that exhibit parental investment and, perhaps, other types of cooperation, but have an absence of overlapping adult generations (annual, not perennial species.) Incompletely social, especially tending to associate gregariously but lacking fixed or complex social organization.

Presocial

Animals that have close family relationships, more than just sexual interactions with members of the same species. Some animals may be sterile. The older animals cooperate to care for the young.

Social animals

Animals which interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species, to the point of having a recognizable and distinct society. Most common in insects, birds, and mammals. Ants, bees, crows, penguins, wolves, and humans are just a few examples

environmental adaptation

Any alteration in the structure or function of an organism or any of its parts that results from natural selection and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive and multiply in its environment. A form or structure modified to fit a changed environment.

defensive chemicals

Chemicals produced by an animal that include noxious, odiferous, indigestible, toxic, or venomous substances that repel, deter, injure/harm, distract, or prevent detection by predators. Some examples are when an octopus releases dark ink to hide itself and harm its predator or when a skunk sprays a stinky chemical to deter predators.

grazing

Cropping grasses and other ground plants on land or scraping algae and other organisms from surfaces in the water. Advantages: offer little or no resistance to being eaten Disadvantages: nutrient poor so a lot must be consumed, taking a lot of time. Grazers are also vulnerable to attack while eating, so grazers tend to form herds. Examples are: snails, grasshoppers, geese, rodents, kangaroos, and hoofed mammals.

egg

First stage of complete or incomplete metamorphosis. Female gamete or reproductive cell

A owl eats a snake, which has eaten a frog, which has eaten a caterpillar, which has eaten a leaf.

Give an example of a food chain

bengal tiger african wild dog amur leopard siberian tiger black-footed ferret red-faced spider monkey amur tiger asian elephant black rhinoceros blue whale borneo elephant bornean orangutan giant panda green sea turtle chimpanzee eastern lowland gorilla

Give some examples of endangered species

sabre-toothed cat woolly mammoth dodo great auk steller's sea cow tasmanian tiger passenger pigeon pyrenean ibex baiji white dolphin west african black rhinoceros quagga caribbean monk seal sea mink tecopa pupfish javan tiger bubal hartebeest tyrannosaurus rex triceratops velociraptor

Give some examples of extinct species

Plants depend on animals for carbon dioxide for photosynthesis Animals depend on plants for oxygen for respiration Plants depend on animals such as bees, butterflies, and squirrels to pollinate and disperse seeds for reproduction Animals depend on plants for food (leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds, etc.) Plants depend on animals to provide nourishment (decaying bodies fertilizing soil, earthworms aerating the soil) Animals depend on plants for shelter, medicines, clothing, building materials, and food.

Give some examples of plant/animal interdependence

Filter-feeding

Method in which food particles are filtered from water as it passes by or through some part of the organism. barnacles, oysters, fanworms, brachiopods, and tunicates sit in one place, pumping sea water and straining plankton from it. Mobile examples are herrings, flamingoes, some sharks, manta rays, and whales.

grazing browsing suspension and deposit feeding predation symbiosis scavenging

Name some animal food gathering methods

claws, teeth, fangs, and stingers camouflage poison shells or spines mimicry echolocation defensive chemicals alarm calls or other signals running or flying

Name some animal protection and defense methods against predators

hibernation--a way to handle cold temperatures and little to no food in the winter migration--moving to places with better conditions or a food supply during the winter or for reproduction of young

Name some examples of behavioral adaptation

A penguin's resting heart rate can slow down greatly during a dive so that it can conserve oxygen underwater and spend more time finding food. During hibernation, the animal's body temperature drops to match the outside temperature, and their heart rate and rate of breathing slows down so they can survive months without food. A person's skin tans in response to being in the sun A chameleon can change its color to match its surroundings

Name some examples of physiological adaptation

Some marine animals have developed blubber to stay warm in cold water. The colour of a penguin's body helps to camouflage it when it is swimming. From above, its dark back blends in against the sea and from below, its light front blends in against the sky. Desert foxes have large ears for heat radiation and Arctic foxes have small ears to retain body heat. Seals have flippers to navigate water and raccoons have separate, flexible digits to manipulate food. Animals that live in the snow have white fur for warmth and camouflage.

Name some examples of structural adaptation

territory water food mates

Name some things that social animals may compete for

aggregation against predators (safety in numbers) pack hunting & sharing the kill protection of young and of mothers while giving birth division of labor/specialization modification of environment (such as building nests or hives) older generations care for younger generations clumping to conserve moisture or heat (taking turns on the outside)

Name some ways that social animals cooperate

mutualism commensalism parasitism

Name the 3 types of symbiosis

egg larva pupa adult

Name the stages of complete metamorphosis

egg nymph(s) adult

Name the stages of incomplete metamorphosis

Behavioral Physiological Structural

Name the three types of environmental adaptation

Eating nectar, fruits, pollen, and seeds Burrowing Filter-feeding

Name three types of browsing

Food web

Network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem

browsing

Nipping foliage from trees and shrubs on land or feeding on algae, aquatic plants, or corals in water. Depend on food that is less abundant and widespread than grass, so they tend to form smaller groups or to be solitary and secretive. Examples are: caterpillars, tortoises, grouse, giraffes, goats, antelopes, deer, pandas, koalas, and monkeys on land; sea slugs, sea urchins, parrot fish, ducks, and manatees in water.

Physiological Adaptation

Physical and chemical processes that take place inside the body of an organism that help it to survive/reproduce

Sociality

Refers to the extent of organization of an animal's social behavior. The levels of sociality include eusocial, presocial, subsocial, and parasocial.

Behavioral Adaptation

Responses made by an organism that help it to survive/reproduce.

claws, teeth, fangs, and stingers

Sharp and painful objects that hurt and deter predators through biting, scratching, tearing, or stinging.

Eating nectar, fruits, pollens, and seeds

Sweet nectar rewards bees, flies, moths, butterflies, and bats that spread pollen from one flower to another, and sugary fruits entice birds, monkeys, fruit bats, bears, elephants, and humans to eat them and spread the indigestible seeds throughout the countryside. Pollen and seeds, being a plant's reproductive capital, are not meant to be eaten, but many bees, flies, and beetles nevertheless consume pollen, while birds, squirrels, and harvester ants take their toll on the seed crop.

commensalism

Symbiotic relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited. Example is the remora fish and a manta ray. The remora attaches to the manta ray and eats the scraps it leaves behind. The manta ray receives no benefit but also isn't harmed.

mutualism

Symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship. Example is the Egyptian plover and the crocodile. The plover eats bits of meat from the crocodile teeth, the crocodile gets its teeth cleaned.

Eusocial

The highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care, overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups.

natural habitats

The places where species of plants of animals live in the wild. (Examples: wetland, tundra, grassland, tidepool, desert, ocean)

Metamorphosis

The process of transformation in an insect or amphibian from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages.

nymph

The second stage of an insect that experiences incomplete metamorphosis. Sometimes there is more than one nymph stage between egg and adult.

larvae

The second stage of complete metamorphosis. The newly hatched, wingless, often worm-like form of many insects. The active immature form of an insect, especially one that differs greatly from the adult.

Animal Social Behavior

The suite of interactions that occur between two or more individual animals, usually of the same species, when they form simple aggregations, cooperate in sexual or parental activity, engage in disputes over territory and access to mates, or simply communicate across space.

adult

The third (and final) stage in incomplete metamorphosis and the fourth (and final) stage of complete metamorphosis.

pupa

The third stage of complete metamorphosis, in which a larva develops into an adult insect. This is an inactive stage of development (when the insect is not feeding and is often enclosed in a cocoon or chrysalis.)

echolocation

The use of reflected sound waves to determine distances or to locate objects. A defensive method when eyesight is poor or in the dark.

Animals consume plants or prey that have been exposed to pesticides. Some animals may be sprayed directly. Some animals experience secondary exposure such as pesticide drift, secondary poisoning, runoff into local water bodies, or groundwater contamination. Herbicides may reduce food, cover, and nesting sites needed by insect, bird, and mammal populations. insecticides may diminish insect populations fed on by bird or fish species Insecticides may reduce insect pollinators, thereby affecting plant pollination These chemicals not only can kill wild animals, but can also disrupt hormones in animals, affecting behavior and the ability to reproduce These chemicals can build up in the bodies of animals The natural enemies of pest insects can also be killed by pesticides Pesticides affect the food chain because they reduce the biomass of primary consumers. This means there is less food available to secondary consumers Pesticides can reduce the availability of plants and insects that serve as habitat and food for fish and other aquatic animals.

What are some effects that pesticides and herbicides have on animals.

food varies in its: spatial distribution seasonal availability predictability how well hidden or easily detected it is how much competition for it exists whether or not it can resist being eaten

What challenges cause animals to have variety of food gathering methods?

Parasocial

When the adults of one generation live together in one nest or area. Each adult takes care of its own young.

Plant/Animal Interdependence

When two or more organisms or living things rely on each other for survival. Each gets things they need from the other and each gives things needed to the other.