Adapting in order to survive
Ecologists believe that every animal has its own “profession”, which consists in finding the perfect correspondence among the species and its own ecological segment (i.e. the position of each species in an ecosystem). It would be absurd to think of finding an organism that has not “adapted” to its own ecological segment, in fact the penalty for this would be its rapid extinction.
By adaptation, we mean any structure, any physiological or behavioural process, that makes an individual, an animal or a vegetable more adapted to survive and reproduce itself than other individuals of the same species. By adaptation we also mean the evolutive process with which a new character is consolidated through natural selection. Adaptation can increase the efficiency in finding or using some fundamental resources such as light, air, food, etc.; or it can allow the organism to support determined conditions such as high or low temperatures, the absence of light or to help its defensive capacity.
Special reports
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31 August 2013
The Red List of Italian animals
Italy has a rich biodiversity due to its distinctive geographic...
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29 April 2013
Intruders in the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea has always been considered of fundamental importance...
5 February 2007
Biological products
Biological products are foodstuffs of vegetable and animal origin (apples, peaches...
5 January 2005
Tsunami in the Maldives
On the 26th December 2004, an earthquake that took place 300 km west of the Island of Sumatra...
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10 February 2014
Coral turns pale!
The coral reef is one of the ecosystems with the richest biodiversity...
11 June 2012
Bats, facts and fiction
In ancient Rome, bats were nailed to the door of the house as a protection from witches...
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31 August 2013
The Red List of Italian animals
Italy has a rich biodiversity due to its distinctive geographic...
-
29 April 2013
Intruders in the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea has always been considered of fundamental importance...
-
5 February 2007
Biological products
Biological products are foodstuffs of vegetable and animal origin (apples, peaches...
5 January 2005
Tsunami in the Maldives
On the 26th December 2004, an earthquake that took place 300 km west of the Island of Sumatra...
-
31 August 2013
The Red List of Italian animals
Italy has a rich biodiversity due to its distinctive geographic...
From the Multimedia section
Facts
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Bio-luminescence
Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...
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3 April 2012
The whale shark
<p>The whale shark <i>(Rhincodon typus</i>) is the biggest fish in the world...</p>
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16 May 2011
Big and small animals
To live at the high temperatures of this inhospitable environment...
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3 April 2012
The whale shark
<p>The whale shark <i>(Rhincodon typus</i>) is the biggest fish in the world...</p>