Evolution by natural selection
An adaptation is a characteristic of an organism that improves its chances of surviving and/or reproducing.
Organisms are generally well adapted to the abiotic and biotic conditions of the environment in which they live.
An organism’s adaptationA feature of an organism's body which helps it to survive. are a result of the genes the organism inherits from its parents.
The proportion of well-adapted organisms in a population can increase over the generations by the process of evolution by natural selection.
There are three different types of adaptations:
- behaviouralThe way an animal acts or behaves to improve its chance of survival and reproduction. - responses made by an organism that help it to survive/reproduce
- Physiological - a body process that helps an organism to survive/reproduce
- structuralThese are physical features of an organism like the bill on a bird or the fur on a bear which make it suitable for survival in its habitat. - a feature of an organism’s body that helps it to survive/reproduce