How Animals Adapt to Weather Extremes

Word Bank Waterbear (Tardigrade) Golden-Crowned Kinglets

Leatherback Turtle Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat

Arctic Fox Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctica isabella)

Labord’s Chameleon Beluga Whale

Dromedary Camel Ice Crawler (Grylloblattidae)

Gentoo Penguin Desert Jackrabbit

1. What tiny bird weighs less than one-fifth of an ounce and is able to survive extreme cold weather? In winter months when food is scarce, it subsists on hibernating inchworms. These birds keep warm via their plentiful feathers and huddle together at night for more warmth.

2. Which Arctic Native survives the cold by growing an extra insulating undercoat of fur in extreme cold months? It’s fur also changes color-brown in the warmer months, white in the colder months-to camouflage itself from predators and reflect ice particles in the air. It has such keen hearing that it can precisely locate the position of prey under the snow and punch through the snow to catch its victim.

3. This is the only one of its species to be found in one of the coldest regions of the Arctic. It survives by freezing itself over multiple winters as it grows and pupates to maturity. It can live up to 14 years by freezing and defrosting itself. It survives being frozen by producing a cryoprotectant in its tissues. In the spring it thaws out and emerges to pupate. Once it emerges from its pupa, it has only days to find a mate. How Animals Adapt to Weather Extremes

4. What aquatic micro-animal resembles a tiny bear and can survive both extreme hot and cold water temperatures, from just above absolute zero to well above the boiling point of water? They can go without food or water for more than ten years, drying out to the point where they are 3 percent or less water, only to rehydrate, forage and reproduce.

5. Which whale has a unique morphology that enables it to survive in the iciest ocean regions? It has 5 inches (13 cm.) of insulating blubber, a unique dorsal fin that can break through ice for attaining fresh air, a flexible neck that allows for more manuverability while navigating cold waters, and amazing endurance. It can cover 100 miles (160 km.) in a day.

6. This largest of all sea turtles can survive in the deepest, coldest regions of the oceans due to its body mass and ability to slow heat loss and conserve energy. Scientists have tracked one of these gentle giants that swam from Indonesia to the United States in an epic 1,200 mile (20,000 km.) foraging journey over a period of 647 days. Its main source of food is deep-water jellyfish, whose population they help control. What is its name?

7. Which desert creature is able to keep cool in extreme desert heat by dispersing heat through its very large ears? They are born fully furred, with their eyes wide open. Most of their body moisture is replaced by foraging water-rich vegetation. They seitch to deep-rooted shrubs when herbaceous vegetation is recovering from their foraging.

8. What mammal has bushy eyebrows, two rows of long eyelashes to protect its eyes, and can close its nostrils in the face of brutal sandstorms? It has specialized kidneys, which make this animal able to tolerate water loss of more than 30 percent of its body mass (a loss of 15% would prove fatal in most other animals). It also has the ability to drink as much as 26.4 gallons (100 l.) of water in just 10 minutes. How Animals Adapt to Weather Extremes

9. Which penguin species is the third largest in size and appears to be adapting and flourishing in the climate change conditions in the Antarctic Penninsula? Because they prefer areas with less sea ice and are locals to the warmer Antarctic regions, they lay their eggs more rapidly in response to warming conditions. Its populations are actually increasing as other penguin species decrease.

10. Which rodent survives in extreme desert conditions without any external water sources? As they spend a lot of time in their burrows to escape the heat of the day, the burrows become much more humid than the air outside (due to evaporative loss). When collecting seeds, this animal stores them in the burrows rather than eating them straight away. This causes the moisture in the air to be absorbed by the seeds, and provides the animal with its primary water source.

11. What reptile has a unique and extreme “live fast, die young” life cycle, and whose post-hatching lifespan of four to five months is the shortest of any tetrapod? Its life begins when eggs hatch during the November rains. The young reach adulthood rapidly, in a mere two months, and enter a breeding season. Then the entire population starts to die off and, by the time the dry season arrives, the entire species exists only as eggs buried underground-an extreme adaptation to the excessively dry conditions of western Madagascar.

12. What is the only insect that can exist in extremely icy Arctic conditions? It is found in leaf litter and under stones in extremely cold environments, usually at high elevations. Its optimal living temperature is between 33.8 and 39.2oF (1 to 4oC). It can be killed at colder temperaturesdue to ice formation in the body, so when the temperature drops below its optimal range, it survives by living under snow pack near the soil.