Behavioural and structural adaptations

Types of adaptations in animals

An adaptation is a feature of an animal that helps it to survive in its environment. An animal can have ‘structural adaptations’ which are physical features such as its size and shape, body covering (e.g. feathers, fur, skin, scales), or the shape of its mouth, beak, or teeth. An animal can also have ‘behavioural adaptations’ which are things the animal does, including how the animal finds food, water and shelter, how it communicates with other animals, and how the animal takes care of its babies.

An animal’s habitat is the place it lives which provides it with the essential things it needs to survive: food, water and air, and a place to live and have babies.  

There is a huge range of different animals living on planet Earth and they have lots of different adaptations, so there is usually more than one solution to the challenges faced by animals living in a particular habitat. 

Wombat adaptations

[Image: Wombat]

There are three types of wombats living in Australia: the common wombat, the Northern hairy-nosed wombat, and the Southern hairy-nosed wombat. All of these wombats have a few adaptations in common:

Structural adaptations:

• Sharp teeth for cutting through native grasses to eat
• Strong legs and long sharp claws for digging burrows
• Pouch in females to keep joeys (baby wombats) safe when they are very young
• Rear-facing pouch so female wombats can dig in the ground without the pouch filling up with dirt
• Dry cubic poo to conserve water and a very long digestive system to absorb nutrients from food

Behavioural adaptations:

• Nocturnal to rest during the day and graze for food at night
• Living in burrows for shelter and temperature control, to conserve water, and for sleeping to conserve energy
• Playful young to practise running and jumping
• Bottom for burrow defence using a hard bony bottom to push out or crush any attacker entering its burrow
• Leaving cubic poo in high places like on rocks and logs to mark territory (the shape of the poo stops it rolling away) 

[Image: Wombat poo on a log]

Wombats are closely related to koalas. While they have some adaptations in common, koalas have quite a few adaptations that are different to the adaptations seen in wombats. 

Koala adaptations

[Image: Koala and joey in a tree]

Here is a list of koala adaptations, in no particular order.  
This list can be used for the activity further down the page.

• Living in trees for shelter and access to food (eucalyptus leaves)
• Pouch in females to keep joeys (baby koalas) safe when they are very young
• Paws with two thumbs for gripping and climbing tree trunks
• Large ears and excellent hearing for communicating with other koalas
• Joey riding on mother’s back for safety and warmth
• Sharp claws and rough paw pads for gripping and climbing
• Fur colour for camouflage to blend in with trees
• Males making deep growls to warn off other males
• Tough bottom for sitting on tree branches
• Joey eating mother’s pap, a special type of poo, to prepare its digestive system for eating eucalyptus leaves
• Mother koalas making soft sounds to bond with her joey
• Fur coats to suit the weather with koalas in cold locations growing thicker and koalas growing thinner fur in warmer locations
• Large nose and a very good sense of smell for finding leaves that are safe to eat and sniffing out warnings from other koalas
• Sleeping for up to 20 hours a day to save energy and digest low-nutrient eucalyptus leaves