It’s lucky that over time animals have evolved to look and act differently because there are so many different types of environments on earth, they need to be different to survive. An obvious example would be the whale – it is soooo big that it would not survive on land. And also animals that live in really cold places like penguins – they have a special layer of fat that helps with insulation. If you popped a penguin closer to the equator, where it is hot then it would most definitely die. 🙁
Also animals have adapted to protect themselves from predators. The spiny lizzards for example look pretty unappetising to predators, and the chameleon is a reptile that can change its colour to blend in with its surrounding. Pretty cool.
These are all examples of NATURAL selection – or evolution. There are also examples of ARTIFICIAL selection – like breeds of dog for example. In this situation people have selected the dogs they like the look of and made them breed with other dogs of a certain ‘look’ so they get a breed. Sometimes this is not a great idea because certain diseases are carried along in these artificial breeding programs.
Another question is why animals SHOULD all look the same.
It is not yet known if life on Earth began with just one species or more than one — but in both cases evolution and “speciation”, as Kate has explained, are important.
Hi bruce,
It’s lucky that over time animals have evolved to look and act differently because there are so many different types of environments on earth, they need to be different to survive. An obvious example would be the whale – it is soooo big that it would not survive on land. And also animals that live in really cold places like penguins – they have a special layer of fat that helps with insulation. If you popped a penguin closer to the equator, where it is hot then it would most definitely die. 🙁
Also animals have adapted to protect themselves from predators. The spiny lizzards for example look pretty unappetising to predators, and the chameleon is a reptile that can change its colour to blend in with its surrounding. Pretty cool.
These are all examples of NATURAL selection – or evolution. There are also examples of ARTIFICIAL selection – like breeds of dog for example. In this situation people have selected the dogs they like the look of and made them breed with other dogs of a certain ‘look’ so they get a breed. Sometimes this is not a great idea because certain diseases are carried along in these artificial breeding programs.
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Hi bruce,
Another question is why animals SHOULD all look the same.
It is not yet known if life on Earth began with just one species or more than one — but in both cases evolution and “speciation”, as Kate has explained, are important.
0