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.