Introduction The animal’s body has evolved various mechanisms for defending itself. There are numerous animal species that have come to adapt different ways in which they protect themselves. Protection measures usually boil down to fight or flight. On one hand, the animal could protect itself by confronting what is harming it, while on the other hand, it could attempt to run, hide, or defend itself the much it can. Various animals’ bodies have different ways of doing both flight and fight. These mechanisms fall into three Major categories: body coverings, body parts, and animal behaviors. Any one of these different types of adaptations plays a critical role in the survival of the animal. Body protection mechanisms Many animals have evolved specific body parts that are adapted for surviving in specific environments. Among these adaptations are sharp claws, webbed feet, whiskers, large beaks, sharp teeth, wings, and hooves. The development of the webbed feet aids aquatic animals in swimming. The feet propel the animals through water quite easily. This mechanism helps the animal escape a predator (Arthur, 1997). Numerous land animals have developed sharp claws that are used for a variety of purposes. Carnivores use their claws for defense. Retracting the claws is an enough warning for competitors or even predators to back off. Some animals such as the cat family have evolved whiskers which serve as feelers. The whiskers are important defense adaptations as they help an animal sense the prey (Arthur, 1997). Perhaps one of the most visible animal body defense mechanism is the sharp teeth found in carnivores. Other than their usual use in tearing and chewing meat, sharp teeth are used in defense. The presence of large te... ... middle of paper ... ...ther threats to ensure their survival. The main mechanisms of body defense fall into three major categories: body coverings, body parts, and behaviors. Body parts such as sharp claws, webbed feet, whiskers, large beaks, sharp teeth, wings, and hooves are essential for survival. The same is true for behaviors such as fight and flight. Other than protection against external enemies, animals’ bodies have also evolved mechanisms to protect themselves from diseases and pathogens. This is achieved through two lines of defenses; the primary and secondary defense mechanisms. The primary line of defense against foreign bodies is achieved mainly with the help of the skin, the digestive and the respiratory tracts. The secondary line of defense is achieved through mobile cells that are abundant in the bloodstream, which scan surfaces of cells throughout the animals’ body.
Their outer fur is coated with alga that is used as camouflage to avoid predators. If they were attacked, they have a high probability of surviving due to their ability to heal from grievous wounds. These sloths have a total of 18 teeth, 10 coming from their upper jaw. Similar to other sloths, their body temperature regulation is imperfect (“Bradypus pygmaeus pygmy three-toed sloth” (a)). Since they are critically endangered, conservation efforts are now put into action.
Sparta was known for being strong, but was it really? In case you don’t know, Sparta was a Greek city-state. Sparta only focused on war. Spartans were only taught the basics of other topics. Spartans were trained for 13 years just to fight. Reading and writing were only taught in Sparta for practical reasons. The strengths didn’t outweigh the weaknesses. There were more weaknesses to Sparta than there were strengths. The strengths of Sparta didn’t outweigh the weaknesses for three reasons. The first reason is that the babies were killed just if they looked weak. The second reason is that the Spartans barely new anything about other topics (math, reading, writing, etc). The third and final reason is that the helots outnumbered the Spartans 50 to 1.
Predation refers to the consumption of one organism known as the prey by another known as the predator in which the prey is alive when the predator first attacks it. Predation is beneficial to the predator and harmful to the prey. This is a broad group which covers a wide variety of interactions and numerous types of predators. For the purpose of this essay we will concentrate on classifying predators according to their individual taxonomic and functional responses.
Litman, Gary W. ìSharks and the Origin of Vertebrate Immunity.î Scientific American November 1996: 67-71.
“In life, sharks are very flexible. Even hammerheads and large ocean sharks are quite flexible,” Lauder said. “If you watch a shark swim, the head does not move very much, so it could be that the denticles on the head are mostly reducing drag, but those on the tail are enhancing thrust. But we don’t know what that balance may be. Ultimately, though, one of the key messages of this paper is that shark skin needs to be studied when they’re moving, which hadn’t been done before.”
All animals under go a process of constant change in their physical appearance and in their behaviour. These changes take place over millions of years and the species that survive, do so because throughout their evolution they have perfected certain strategies that have enabled them to develop more successfully in the environment they inhabit. One such case of this successful development is the great hammerhead shark.
For example, water loss abrasion from outside. The system covers the skin and its appendages. Its main function is to act as an impediment to shield the body from the outside world. It also functions to possess body fluids, protect against disease, oust waste products.
...e ability to climb and jump are two other traits that help this mammal survive. Its claws are hard and curved which permits it to scale the tall forest trees; its hindfoot 180 degrees so it can push off and jump incredible distances (Fischer).
good source of food. The Trilobites fought back for a time, growing spines during the
Most animals have some kind of skill that they adapted because they had another skill that was weak. An example would be a white tiger. They are large animals so to help them hide on the Tundra, where they live, their coats adapted to being white instead of orange. Eagles have those kinds of adaptations too. One of them is their eyesight which allows them to spot prey from the air up to two miles above the Earth (Zoo books 1-17). These adaptations range from eyesight to making up for lack of venom with something else. The Boa Constrictor is one of those animals. They make up for their lack of venom with their brute strength. They could easily squeeze the life out of a person just by wrapping their bodies around the torso and squeezing (James 23). After they kill their prey they swallow them whole, bones and all.
Gould, Edwin, George McKay, and David Kirshner. Encyclopedia of Mammals. San Francisco, CA: Fog City, 2003. Print.
..."9 Reasons Your Canine Teeth Don't Make You a Meat-Eater." Free From Harm. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2014. .
The first step was to obtain the White Rat and to tie it in the supine position, anterior surface facing up in side the dissection pan. To tie the animal, we used butcher’s twine and secured the front and hinds legs using a “lasso” technique, careful not touch the sharp claws. To make the first insicion I had to locate the Xifoid Process of the rat (distal aspect of the sternum). Once I had located the Xifoid Process, I had to use forceps to pull the skin of the animal’s abdomen up and use the scissors to cut. The first incision is made from stem to sternum, cutting through the errectos abdomen muscle down to the groin. The second incision ion is perpendicular to the first below the diaphragm. Because of this technique we were able to open the abdominal cavity first. The third and forth incisions were made bilaterally above the legs. The last two incisions were made in upside down “V” shape on the collarbone, to expose the thoracic cavity. This dissection was both sharp, because of the use of the scissors and scapel and blunt because of the use of the probe and forceps to move organs and skin to expose other organs not yet identified.
One of the first reason why insects are so successful because they possess a tough exoskeleton that is covered with a waxy water repellant layer. The exoskeleton of insects also has helped them survive. An insect's external skeleton, or exoskeleton, is made of semi-rigid plates and tubes. In insects, these plates are made of a plastic like material called chitin along with a tough protein. A waterproof wax covers the plates and prevents the insect's internal tissues from drying out. Insect exoskeletons are highly effective as a body framework, but they have two drawbacks: they cannot grow once they have formed, and like a suit of armor, they become too heavy to move when they reach a certain size. Insects overcome the first problem by periodically molting their exoskeleton and growing a larger one in its place. Insects have not evolved ways to solve the problem of increasing weight, and this is one of the reasons why insects are relatively small. But compared to animals the Exoskeletons d...