Protective Adaptation of Animals

Adapting with camouflage.

Protective adaptations are the ways animals have evolved to survive danger. These include adaptations that not only change their bodies, but change their behavior as well.

Mimicry

The monarch, a target of mimicry.

The University of Richmond describes mimicry as being when a weaker animal adapts by evolving to resemble a more dangerous species. The viceroy butterfly, for example, is harmless, but it's evolved to look just like the monarch butterfly, which is toxic to eat.

Camouflage

Camouflage, where animals have evolved so that they can't be easily seen by predators, is another adaptation described by the University of Richmond. Stick insects, for example, look exactly like twigs when they stand still.

Biochemical adaptation

Don't touch!

The Outlook School Division notes that some animals, like the monarch, have built up toxic compounds in their bodies to discourage attacks. Poisonous species such as the arrow-poison frogs of South America are often brightly colored so that they're easy for predators to recognize.

Bluff

The Outlook School also lists bluffing as a protective adaptation. Some animals have adapted to seem more dangerous than they really are. Australia's frilled lizard, for example, hisses and puts on a spectacular display to drive predators away.

Armor

Many species, including tortoises and armadillos, have protected themselves by evolving hard shells that can shield them from hostile attacks, as the Outlook School notes.

References

• University of Richmond: Animals on Defense
• Outlook School Division: Protective Adaptation

Resources

• Zoological Society of Milwaukee: Animal Adaptation