THE BODIES OF ANIMALS
Animals have special body features that enable them to survive in their environment. These special features, called adaptations, result from the ability animal species have to adapt (adjust) over time to changes in their surroundings.
Adaptations for survival enable animals to move about, to eat, to breathe, and to sense their environment. Legs, wings, and fins help animals move. Teeth and jaws help them eat. Lungs and gills help them obtain oxygen. Eyes and ears help them find food and detect predators.
Animals live in many kinds of environments. The body features of an animal that work well in one type of environment may not work in others. For example, the adaptations that enable fish to breathe in water do not let them breathe on land.
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Even in the same environment, animals may have different adaptations for survival. Shrimp, fish, and sea turtles can all swim in the ocean, but they have different body features for doing so. Shrimp have tiny swimming legs, fish have fins and muscular tails, and turtles have flippers. Because animals adapt to their surroundings in many ways, there is a wide diversity of animals in any environment.
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