An example of idioadaptation of animals and plants

Idioadaptation, along with aromorphosis, is one of the main evolutionary processes of living organisms. In contrast to the latter, it contributes to the appearance in animals and plants of not general, but particular changes that may be associated with the geographic features of their habitat and other factors of environmental impact.

A vivid example

The most striking example of idioadaptation among living things is the prevalence of close species categories in different, and often contrast, latitudinal zones. Especially it is traced in families of dogs and wolves. Their representatives can be found practically in all parts of the globe, from the Arctic belt to the tropics. And all due to the formation in the species of various idioadaptations, and this significantly reduces the competition between them.

Types of idioadaptation

Depending on the changes in the structure of the body or life processes, it is customary to distinguish the following types of idioadaptation:

• By the structure of the body. These adaptations are associated with the transformation of limbs, organs or the whole organism, depending on the nature of the landscape, the type of nutrition, the presence of interspecific and intraspecific competition (features of the fish body shape, elongated giraffe neck, atrophied wings in birds).
• By color. Change in the color of the skin can be seasonal or dependent on the state of the body. A vivid example of idioadaptation is the "winter" and "summer" color of the hare. You can also select chameleons and octopuses, which change color depending on the temperature of the environment, when frightened or threatening the enemy. Some living organisms have a very bright, evocative color gamut of the epidermis. This is called a "warning" coloration. It can often be found on poisonous reptiles and insects. Also a good example of idioadaptation is mimicry. It can be found on non-dangerous representatives of the animal world. They use bright colors to protect against predators, thus misleading them.
• By the nature of movement. Such adaptations were formed in animals under the influence of their habitat. The fish had air sacs that allowed them to stay in the water, the forelegs of seals and walruses were transformed into fins, and the birds received keel and tubular bones for easy and smooth flight.
• By reproduction. As is known, there are several types of reproduction, which were formed under the influence of the environment and evolution. Some organisms are viviparous, fish spawn, reptiles lay eggs, and insects - larvae.
• By fitness to environmental conditions . Here everything is simple: depending on the climatic conditions of the natural zone in which the organism lives, this or that idioadaptation is formed. Examples: subcutaneous fat in representatives of polar fauna, seasonal molt, hump of a camel.

Idioadaptation in animals

Consider the most vivid examples of idioadaptation in animals. Of the mammals with the most outstanding type of private fitness can be identified anteater. Its oral cavity was gradually transformed into a trunk, some teeth atrophied as unnecessary, and the tongue acquired a considerable length and elasticity. Such metamorphosis was caused by the peculiarities of feeding of this species. With such a jaw structure, an anteater is much easier to get its favorite treat - termites and insects. However, when there is a lack of basic food, it becomes very vulnerable, since such a structure of the mouth significantly narrows the range of possible sources of food, which can adversely affect the quantitative composition of the population and intensify intraspecific competition.

Various changes in the structure of the mole body are also a good example of idioadaptation. His paws have adapted to digging the earth, the ears are atrophied, the eyes do not have the lens and retina due to lack of light, and the properties of the hair allow the animal to move in narrow underground passages in any direction.

Idioadaptation in birds

In general, the great diversity of birds on the planet is in itself the result of multiple adaptations. In feathered species, the idioadaptation fauna most often manifests itself in the transformation of various parts of the body. So, for example, depending on the type of food, in different species of birds there are basically different shapes of the beak. In tropical parrots and toucans, this part of the body differs in size and massiveness, which allows them to easily eat fruits and large nuts. The beaks of small birds have a pointed and elongated shape for the extraction of the main sources of food - seeds and insects.

Another bright example of idioadaptation is the transformation of limbs. So waterfowl appeared membranes, and eagles and hawks - powerful claws for hunting rodents. Also worth paying attention to the wings. In ostriches and penguins, they are generally absent due to habitat in the plains and quite a lot of weight.

Idioadaptation in fish

The streamlined shape of the body and the presence of an air bubble are the particular changes inherent in almost all marine life. At the same time, in connection with living at different depths, many individual idioadaptations began to appear in many.

In the upper ocean layers you can meet a huge number of diverse tropical fish, but their bright coloration, they are primarily due to a large amount of penetrating sunlight. But, for example, the bottom inhabitants differ in their features of structure. They have adapted to the high pressure of the water column due to the flat shape of the body (stingrays, flounder).

Idioadaptation in insects

Insects are living beings most prone to idioadaptation. They, like many microorganisms, have learned to withstand the various critical conditions created by the environment. The most obvious example of idioadaptation of insects is color. The bright chitinous cover of some species warns predators of their virulence. But innocuous insects have acquired a similar coloration as a deceptive, but at the same time very effective means of protection.

Idioadaptation in plants

Depending on the soil types, the nature of the climate, and also under the influence of environmental conditions, idioadaptation of plants is formed. Examples:

• In desert areas, where there is a significant deficit of moisture and a large amount of solar radiation, the plants have adapted to survival due to a long and very developed root system and small leaves covered with a hard layer of the cuticle.
• In the subpolar areas, plants do not differ in size, their vegetative period has decreased almost twice, and the leaves are very small and leathery.
• In conditions of waterlogging, the plants transformed their leaf plates, which became very wide and smooth, so as not to absorb excess water.