Compared with the water environment, the land environment is much more complicated. First of all, the land climate is relatively dry, so the bodies of terrestrial animals generally have structures to prevent water loss. For example, snakes have scales, turtles have armor, and insects have exoskeletons.
Secondly, because animals on land are not affected by water buoyancy, they generally have organs to support their bodies and movements, which can be used for crawling (such as snakes), walking (such as camels), jumping (such as rabbits), running (such as cheetahs), climbing (such as golden monkeys) and other sports modes to feed and avoid enemies.
In addition, most terrestrial animals have respiratory organs that can breathe in the air, such as rabbits, trachea and lungs, which can breathe. However, earthworms breathe in different ways. It depends on the body wall that can secrete mucus and keep it moist all the time. The oxygen in the air should first dissolve in the mucus on the body surface, then penetrate into the body wall and then enter the capillaries on the body wall.
Just now, we also mentioned that terrestrial animals avoid the enemy. They can avoid enemies mainly because terrestrial animals have developed senses and nervous systems. Take the rabbit as an example, its developed brain, nerves all over the body and developed limbs can sensitively perceive the changes of the external environment and respond to the changing environment in time.
The body structure of terrestrial animals is also very important. Earthworms can't keep a constant body temperature because of their flexible body movements, and they can only live in deep soil with little temperature change. But the rabbit's body hair is smooth and soft, which has the function of heat preservation. Its respiratory system and circulatory system provide enough energy for the body to keep the rabbit's body temperature unchanged from the outside world.
The digestive system of terrestrial animals is also very special. Rabbit teeth are divided into incisors and molars. Incisors are suitable for cutting plant fibers, and molars are suitable for grinding food. The rabbit has grown a cecum. These structures are adapted to its habit of eating plants. In addition to incisors and molars, mammals such as wolves and tigers also have sharp canine teeth, which can be used to tear food.
Generally speaking, the adaptation of animals to the environment always develops in two different directions:
Convergent adaptation: The so-called convergent adaptation refers to animals that are far apart in taxonomic status, but all adapt to the same living environment, thus developing similar morphological structures. Such as whales, but it does not belong to terrestrial animals. ...
Radiation adaptation: Radiation adaptation is also called divergent adaptation. It refers to the different adaptive characteristics of animals with the same origin or similar kinship who live in different environments for a long time. For example, gibbons, bats, antelopes and moles all belong to Uttera, but their morphological structures are quite different due to different living environments.
And how do animals adapt to the environment? We can summarize as follows:
1, morphological and structural adaptation
The unique structure of many animals' mouths, feet and eyes shows their amazing adaptability to the living environment and the food they eat. ...
2. Physiological adaptability
Physiological adaptation is not easy to be detected by people, but it is common in living things. For example, reptiles in desert areas urinate in the form of solid urate instead of urine to minimize the loss of water in their bodies. Whole-body coat is an effective way for some terrestrial animals to adapt to the environment. Will not be burned by solar radiation, but also form a temperature gradient between the coat and the skin, which plays a role in heat insulation. Some species have local abnormal temperatures. For example, the body surface temperature of dogs is much lower than its depth, especially the feet, legs, tail, ear tips, mouth and nose are lower than other parts of the body surface, which can reduce energy loss and become an adaptation to the cold environment, which is also a way for them to use heat energy economically.
3. Ecological adaptation of behavior
When the surface temperature is very high, most rodents will hide in underground caves and block the hole. Nocturnal animals, such as tarsiers and lazy monkeys, crawl on branches in ventilated and cool places, and wait until after dark, when the ground temperature drops and the humidity is high, they go to the ground or among trees for foraging, combing and other activities. In mid-latitude and high-latitude areas, almost all invertebrates hibernate or glow, and a few mammals hibernate or sleep in summer. These are the adaptive manifestations of behavioral ecology.
In a word, the morphological structure and living habits of different kinds of terrestrial animals all show their adaptation to various environments.