Video Transcript
Which of these adaptations would be
relevant for an animal living in a hot desert? (A) Sweating abundantly, (B)
hibernation, (C) having no teeth, (D) having large ears.
This question is asking us about
adaptations of an animal in a hot desert. What does adaptation mean? An adaptation is a characteristic
of an organism that makes it well suited to its environment and gives it a better
chance of survival. The environment in this question is
a desert. A desert is a region of land that
is usually hot and doesn’t get very much rain or precipitation. The organisms that live here need
to adapt in different ways. These adaptations can include ways
to conserve water, keeping cool, and walking on the sand. Now, let’s go through our answer
choices to decide which one is a good adaptation for an organism that lives in a hot
desert.
Answer choice (A) is incorrect. Sweat is important to regulate body
temperature in many animals. But it uses water, and desert
animals need to conserve water. Because of this, many desert
animals rarely sweat.
Answer choice (B) is also
incorrect. Hibernation typically refers to a
state of inactivity or dormancy during the winter months. Desert animals can do something
similar, but this is called estivation. When it’s too hot in the summer or
very dry, animals can keep cool and conserve water by being inactive or by
estivating.
Answer choice (C) is also
incorrect. The absence of teeth generally
doesn’t help an animal adapt to desert environments, where it’s important to keep
cool and conserve water.
Answer choice (D) seems to be
correct. Let’s explain this using the fennec
fox as an example. In order to conserve water, fennec
foxes don’t sweat. Instead, they have large ears that
contain many blood vessels that they use to release heat from their body. Therefore, the adaptation that is
relevant for desert animals is given by answer choice (D), having large ears.
