An example of adaptation of people and animals in the surrounding world. Physiological adaptations: examples

Grandiose inventions of the human mind do not cease to amaze, there is no limit to imagination. But the fact that nature created many centuries, surpasses the most creative ideas and plans. Nature has created more than one and a half million species of living individuals, each of which is individual and unique in its forms, physiology, fitness for life. Examples of adaptation of organisms to the constantly changing living conditions on the planet are examples of the creator's wisdom and a constant source of problems for solving biologists.

What is adaptation?

Adaptation means fitness or addiction. This is the process of gradual degeneration of the physiological, morphological or psychological functions of the being in the conditions of a changed habitat. Changes are experienced both by individuals and by whole populations.

A vivid example of adaptation of direct and indirect is the survival of the plant and animal life in the zone of high radiation around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Immediate adaptability is characteristic of those individuals who managed to survive, get used to and begin to multiply, some could not stand the test and died (indirect adaptation).

Since the conditions of existence on the Earth change constantly, the processes of evolution and fitness in living nature are also a continuous process.

A fresh example of adaptation is a change in the habitat of a colony of green Mexican parrot arating. Recently they have changed the habitual habitat and settled in the very mouth of Masaya volcano, in an environment constantly saturated with sulfuric gas of high concentration. Scientists have not yet explained this phenomenon.

Types of adaptation

The change in the whole form of the existence of the organism is a functional adaptation. An example of adaptation, when a change in conditions leads to a mutual adaptation of living organisms to each other, is a correlative adaptation or co-adaptation.

Adaptation can be passive when the functions or structure of the subject occur without his participation, or active, when he consciously changes his habits to suit the environment (examples of people's adaptation to natural conditions or society). There are cases when the subject adapts the environment to his needs - this is an objective adaptation.

Biologists share the types of adaptation on three grounds:

• Morphological.
• Physiological.
• Behavioral or psychological.

Examples of adaptation of animals or plants in their pure form are rare, most cases of adaptation to new conditions occur in mixed species.

Morphological adaptations: examples

Morphological changes are changes in the shape of the body, individual organs or the whole structure of a living organism that occurred during the evolution process.

Below are the morphological adaptations, examples from the animal and plant world, which we consider as a self-evident phenomenon:

• The degeneration of leaves into thorns in cacti and other plants of arid regions.
• Turtle shell.
• Streamlined body forms of inhabitants of reservoirs.

Physiological adaptations: examples

The physiological adaptation is a change in a number of chemical processes that take place within the body.

• Highlighting a strong smell to attract insects contributes to dusting.
• The state of anabiosis, in which the simplest organisms can enter, allows them to maintain their vital functions after many years. The oldest reproductive bacterium is 250 years old.
• Accumulation of subcutaneous fat, which is converted into water, from camels.

Behavioral (psychological) adaptations

Examples of human adaptation are more connected with the psychological factor. Behavioral characteristics are characteristic of flora and fauna. So, in the course of evolution, the change in the temperature regime causes some animals to hibernate, the birds fly south to return in the spring, the trees to drop the leaves and slow the movement of the juices. The instinct of choosing the most suitable partner for procreation drives the behavior of animals during the mating season. Some northern frogs and turtles completely freeze for the winter and thaw, come alive with the onset of heat.

Factors causing a need for change

Any adaptation processes are a response to environmental factors that lead to a change in the environment. Such factors are subdivided into biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic.

Biotic factors are the influence of living organisms on each other when, for example, one species disappears, which serves as food to another.

Abiotic factors are changes in the surrounding inanimate nature, when the climate, soil composition, water availability, cycles of solar activity change. Physiological adaptations, examples of the influence of abiotic factors - equatorial fish, which can breathe both in water and on land. They have adapted well to the conditions when the drying of rivers is a frequent phenomenon.

Anthropogenic factors are the influence of human activity, which changes the environment.

Adaptations to the environment

• Illumination . In plants - these are separate groups that differ in the need for sunlight. Light-loving heliophytes live well in open spaces. In contrast to them, the sociophytes: the plants of forest thickets, feel themselves well in shaded places. Among animals there are also individuals whose physiological adaptation is designed for an active lifestyle at night or underground.
• Air temperature. On average, for all living things, including humans, the optimal temperature environment is the range from 0 to 50 ^o C. However, life is practically in all climatic regions of the Earth.

The opposite examples of adaptation to abnormal temperatures are described below.

Arctic fishes do not freeze due to the production in the blood of a unique antifreeze protein, which prevents the blood from freezing.

The simplest microorganisms are found in hydrothermal sources, the water temperature in which exceeds the boiling point.

Plants-hydrophytes, that is, those that live in or near water, die even with a slight loss of moisture. Xerophytes, on the contrary, are adapted to live in arid regions, and die at high humidity. Among animals, nature has also worked on adaptation to water and waterless environments.

Adaptation Rights

The ability of a person to adapt is truly grandiose. The secrets of human thinking are not fully revealed, and the secrets of the adaptive ability of people will long remain a mysterious topic for scientists. The superiority of Homo sapiens to other living beings is the ability to consciously change one's behavior to the demands of the environment or, conversely, the world around them to their needs.

The flexibility of human behavior manifests itself daily. If you give the task: "give examples of people's adaptation," most begin to remember exceptional cases of survival in extreme conditions. These are rare cases, and social adaptation in new circumstances is daily for the person. We try on ourselves a new situation at the time of birth, in kindergarten, school, in a team, when moving to another country. It is this state of acceptance of new sensations by the body that is called stress. Stress is a psychological factor, but nevertheless under its influence many physiological functions change. In the case when a person takes a new environment as positive for themselves, the new state becomes habitual, otherwise the stress threatens to become protracted and lead to a number of serious diseases.

Mechanisms of adaptation of man

There are three types of human adaptation:

• Physiological . The simplest examples are acclimatization and adaptability to changing time zones or daily mode of operation. In the process of evolution, different types of people were formed, depending on the territorial place of residence. Arctic, high mountain, continental, desert, equatorial types differ significantly in physiological parameters.
• Psychological adaptation. It is a person's ability to find moments of understanding with people of different psychotypes, in a country with a different level of mentality. It is common for a reasonable person to change his established stereotypes under the influence of new information, special cases, stress.
• Social adaptation. Type of addiction, which is peculiar only to man.

All adaptive types are closely related, as a rule, any change of habitual existence causes in a person the need for social and psychological adaptation. Under their influence, the mechanisms of physiological changes come into play, which also adapt to new conditions.

Such a mobilization of all the reaction of the body is called an adaptation syndrome. New reactions of the body appear in response to sudden changes in the situation. At the first stage - anxiety - there is a change in physiological functions, changes in the work of metabolism and systems. Further, protective functions and organs (including the brain) are connected, they begin to incorporate their protective functions and hidden capabilities. The third stage of adaptation depends on individual characteristics: a person either joins a new life and enters a normal course (in medicine, recovery occurs during this period), or the body does not accept stress, and the consequences already take a negative form.

Phenomena of the human body

In man, a huge reserve of strength is inherent in nature, which is used only in an insignificant amount in everyday life. It appears in extreme situations and is perceived as a miracle. In fact, a miracle lies in ourselves. An example of adaptation: the ability of people to adapt to normal life after the removal of a significant part of the internal organs.

Natural congenital immunity during life can be strengthened by a number of factors or, conversely, weaken with an incorrect lifestyle. Unfortunately, infatuation with harmful habits is also a difference of a person from other living organisms.