Adapting to Australia

Student Notes: Adaptations of a Scaly Kind

Please complete this section during your session with a Zoo Education Officer

1.

Explain what is meant by the term adaptation.

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2.

List some of the abiotic (non-living) and biotic (living) factors of a semi-arid
environment that animals would need to adapt to:
Abiotic (non-living) factors

3.

Biotic (living) factors

Many reptiles inhabit the semi-arid environments of Australia. Complete the table below
to describe some of the types of adaptations that snakes and lizards have to help them
survive in this climatic zone.
Survival challenge
Keeping cool

Staying warm

Conserving water

Locating and
capturing food

Behavioural
Adaptation

Structural
Adaptation

Physiological
Adaptation

Adapting to Australia
Student Notes: Reproducing in a Harsh Climate
Please complete this section during your session with a Zoo Education Officer

1.

The Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) has a unique reproductive strategy. They are able
to delay the implantation and development of an embryo (blastocyst) inside the uterus.
This is called embryonic diapause. In good conditions, a female Red Kangaroo may
have a joey at heel, one in the pouch and a dormant embryo ready to replace the
pouched young as soon as it leaves.
The following are the key reproductive events for a Red Kangaroo. Number them
according to the order in which they would happen.
The embryo in diapause resumes
development
The young joey has left the pouch but
continues to suckle from mother.
Female ovulates (comes into oestrus)

Unfavourable environmental condition,

e.g. drought
Favourable environmental conditions
Embryo enters embryonic diapause.
When development in the uterus is
complete the young enters the pouch

2.

What is the advantage of embryonic diapause in terms of a survival adaptation?

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Back at School
When conditions deteriorate, the joey at the heel (still suckling) perishes first, then young in
pouch, and then lastly the diapausing embryo. Explain why the mother selects to withdraw
nourishment from the young in this particular order when times are hard.

Adapting to Australia
Activity Sheet A - Going Walkabout
Macropods (Red and Western Grey Kangaroos)
1.

Record your observations about the environmental conditions for the day of your visit:
Sunny
Still
o

Raining

Overcast (please circle)

Windy

Gentle breeze (please circle)

Temp ( C)

___________

Time of day ___________

2.

Describe the behaviour of the kangaroos today.

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3.

Explain their behaviour in terms of temperature regulation.

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4.

Kangaroos are crepuscular. This means that they are mainly active at dawn and dusk.
How can this behaviour assist survival in term of temperature regulation?
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5.

Kangaroos live in groups called mobs. List the advantages and disadvantages in living
in a mob.
Advantages: ___________________________________________________________
Disadvantages: _________________________________________________________

Adapting to Australia
Activity Sheet A - Going Walkabout Cont...
Short-beaked Echidna
6.

Like many Australian animals, Short-beaked Echidnas create burrows. Draw and label a
diagram of one of our Perth Zoo echidna burrows.

7.

How does this assist them in thermoregulation?

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8.

Describe some of the features that this unique animal has for finding and obtaining its
food.
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*Picture above illustrates the average size of a Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus)

Small claws

Long thin sticky tongue

Pointed muzzle

Active during the day

(diurnal)

Activity Sheet A - Going Walkabout Cont...

Black and white bands

How do each of
these features
help a Numbat to
survive?

Adapting to Australia

Adapting to Australia

Adapting to Australia
Activity Sheet B - I Like the Night Life
Visit the animals in the Nocturnal House.
Please arrange to meet your teacher at a
specified time at the Nocturnal House as
teacher supervision is required in this area.
You will need to locate nocturnal animals which
display the following survival adaptations.
An animal whose coat blends in with the
moonlight shining down between the trees.

Draw a section of this animals fur.

Common Name:
______________________________________
Scientific Name:
______________________________________
A tail that looks like part can blend in with the
leaves on a tree.

Draw this animals tail.

Common Name:
_________________________
Scientific Name:
______________________________________
An ability to locate food using soundwaves.

Draw one of this animals ears.

Common Name:
______________________________________
Scientific Name:
______________________________________
An animal able to carry nesting material with its Draw this animals tail carrying nesting materials.
tail to build a refuge from predators.
Common Name:
______________________________________
Scientific Name:
______________________________________

Adapting to Australia
Activity Sheet C - Land vs. Water
There are vast differences between life on land and a water-based lifestyle. In the table
below, list two environmental pressures for each that relate to the nature of each habitat.
Environmental pressures specific to land

Environmental pressures specific to water

1.

1.

2.

2.

Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) spend time both on land and at sea and are therefore
faced with challenges relating to living in both marine and terrestrial environments.
Use your observations and the signage at the Penguin Plunge exhibit to identify some of the
Little Penguins adaptations to deal with these survival challenges. You will also need to
decide if each adaptation is structural, behavioural, or physiological.
Survival Challenge

Description of Adaptation

Type of Adaptation
(please circle)

Decrease risk of overheating

on land

S/B/P

Decrease risk of heat loss at

sea

S/B/P

Avoid predators at sea

S/B/P

Avoid predators on land

S/B/P

Care for young

S/B/P

Adapting to Australia
Appendix 1
Learn the Lingo
Several terms and phrases are commonly used when discussing animal adaptations. Find out
the meaning of the following terms and phrases to expand on your biological vocabulary.

abiotic factors

adaptation

behavioural adaptation

biotic factors

camouflage

carnivore

crepuscular

dentition

diurnal

ectothermic

endothermic

environment

environmental pressure

herbivore

homeostasis

marine

mob

nocturnal

omnivore

physiological adaptation

structural adaptation

terrestrial

thermoregulation