Name that Adaptation!

1. Name thatAdaptation!

2. Bombardier Beetle

3. Bombardier Beetle Adaptations… When threatened, bombardier beetles spray the suspected attacker with a boiling hot mixture of caustic chemicals. The predator hears a loud pop, then finds itself bathed in a cloud of toxins reaching 212° F (100° C). Even more impressive, the bombardier beetle can aim the poisonous eruption in the direction of the harasser.

4. Bombardier Beetle Environmental Pressures… http://video.mit.edu/watch/bombardier-beetles-3185/

5. Bee Orchid

6. Bee Orchid Adaptations… Bee orchids are fascinating and beautiful plants that certainly live up to their name: each flower looks like it has a female bee or wasp resting on it. These modified petals also smell like female bees, emitting enticing chemical signals. These remarkable adaptations are in fact an effective deception to lure a real bee to come and mate. In most bee orchid species the excited male insect becomes covered in pollen, in turn pollinating the next orchid he visits; a few species, however, are still self-pollinating. These Mediterranean masters of mimicrygrow either singly or in small groups in meadows, woodland edges or even by the side of the road. 

7. Bee OrchidEnvironmental Pressures… http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/plants-fungi/bee-orchids/

8. Mudskipper

9. Mudskipper Adaptations… Mudskippers are torpedo-shaped gobies. They have muscular, arm-like pectoral fins that function as legs when they are on land; two dorsal fins; and, depending on the species, their anal fins can be joined to form a sucker that aids in climbing. A muscular tail allows them to “skip” over land. Mudskippers also have lateral lines on their foreheads. Early in the larval life of these fish, their eyes migrate to the top of their head, where they are located close together. Internally, their protuberant eyes have cones above for color vision and rods below for monochromatic vision, allowing the fish to see both above and below water at the same time. Coloration varies, but is normally a brownish mud-color that camouflages these fish in their natural habitats.

10. MudskipperEnvironmental Pressures… http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/mudskippers

11. Bolas Spider

12. Bolas Spider Adaptations… Shortly after dusk, the spider lowers herself on silk threads, spins a silk line with a sticky blob on the end of it and swings it to catch the moths or other insects that have been attracted by the chemicals.  The spider gets its name from the bolas (ball-on-a-string) weapon used by Eskimos and South American Indians. 

13. Bolas SpiderEnvironmental Pressures… http://www.arkive.org/bolas-spider/mastophora-hutchinsoni/video-00.html

14. Mimic Octopus

15. Mimic Octopus Adaptations… The mimic octopus lives exclusively in nutrient-rich estuarine bays of Indonesia and Malaysia full of potential prey. It uses a jet of water through its funnel to glide over the sand while searching for prey, typically small fish, crabs, and worms. It also is prey to other species. Like other octopuses, the mimic octopus' soft body is made of nutritious muscle, without spine or armor, and not obviously poisonous, making it desirable prey for large, deep water carnivores, such as barracuda and small sharks. Often unable to escape such predators, its mimicry of different poisonous creatures serves as its best defense. Mimicry also allows it to prey upon animals that would ordinarily flee an octopus; it can imitate a crab as an apparent mate, only to devour its deceived suitor. This octopus mimics venomous sole, lion fish, sea snakes, sea anemones, and jellyfish. For example, the mimic is able to imitate a sole by pulling its arms in, flattening to a leaf-like shape, and increasing speed using a jet-like propulsion that resembles a sole. When spreading its legs and lingering on the ocean bottom, its arms trail behind to simulate the lion fish's fins. By raising all of its arms above its head with each arm bent in a curved, zig-zag shape to resemble the lethal tentacles of a fish-eating sea anemone, it deters many fish. It imitates a large jellyfish by swimming to the surface and then slowly sinking with its arms spread evenly around its body. (source)

16. Mimic OctopusEnvironmental Pressures… http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/behold-amazing-shapeshifting-mimic-octopus-video.html

17. Lyre Bird

18. Lyre Bird Adaptations… A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, that form the genus, Menura, and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment

19. Lyre BirdEnvironmental Pressures… http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/weirdest-superb-lyrebird

20. Angler Fish

21. Angler Fish Adaptations… There are more than 200 species of anglerfish, most of which live in the murky depths of the Atlantic and Antarctic oceans, up to a mile below the surface, although some live in shallow, tropical environments. Generally dark gray to dark brown in color, they have huge heads and enormous crescent-shaped mouths filled with sharp, translucent teeth. Some angler fish can be quite large, reaching 3.3 feet (1 meter) in length. Most however are significantly smaller, often less than a foot. Their most distinctive feature, worn only by females, is a piece of dorsal spine that protrudes above their mouths like a fishing pole—hence their name. Tipped with a lure of luminous flesh this built-in rod baits prey close enough to be snatched. Their mouths are so big and their bodies so pliable, they can actually swallow prey up to twice their own size.

22. Angler FishEnvironmental Pressures… http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/anglerfish/

23. Corpse Flower

24. Corpse Flower Adaptations… Part of the reason the corpse flower is drawing such big crowds is because it rarely blooms. It is also one of the biggest, stinkiest plants on the planet, says Bill McLaughlin, the curator of plants at the U.S. Botanic Garden. And while the odor is overwhelming to humans, to dung beetles and flies it smells like opportunity. "It makes them think there's rotten meat somewhere to lay their eggs, and then that helps the corpse flower to get pollinated," says Mo Fayyaz, the greenhouse and garden director at the University of Wisconsin's department of botany, who has worked with corpse flowers in the past. "It smells bad to us, but it smells great to flies."

25. Corpse FlowerEnvironmental Pressures… http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/corpse-flower-vin

26. Pistol Shrimp

27. Pistol Shrimp Adaptations… Snapping shrimp hold their large claws open while hunting, and when prey is encountered, the closing of the claw occurs so quickly that water pressure around the claw changes rapidly.  This results in cavitation - the production of a bubble in the water that implodes as the pressure returns to normal.  It is the bursting of this bubble that produces the characteristic snapping sound which stuns prey so they can be captured.

28. Pistol Shrimp Environmental Pressures… http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/worlds-deadliest-ngs/deadliest-pistol-shrimp

29. Bell Spider

30. Bell Spider Adaptations… Diving bell spiders use bubbles to breathe underwater. Research shows the bubble acts like a gill, extracting dissolved oxygen from the water and dispersing carbon dioxide. An enduring bubble of air inside an underwater silk sack allows one species of spider to remain underwater for hours at a time, according to a new study. In fact, the bubble is so efficient it allows spider to live virtually its whole life under water. Professor Roger Seymour of the University of Adelaide says that the diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica) creates a submerged oxygen store, five to ten centimeters below the surface and can "stay down for more than a day while resting."

31. Bell SpiderEnvironmental Pressures… http://www.arkive.org/water-spider/argyroneta-aquatica/video-03.html