Box Jellyfish (Cnidarian)

Adaptation: Jellyfish Tentacles

• The tentacles of a jellyfish are a structural adaptation.
• The Box Jellyfish uses this adaptation in order to fend off predators and capture its prey, utilizing the stinging, barbed tentacles attached to its body to administer a shock, along with venom.
• Despite the tentacle's stinging power, this adaptation would be nigh useless on land, like the other aspects of the jellyfish.

Axolotl (Amphibian)

Adaptation: Axolotl's Gills

• The Axolotl's gills are yet another structural adaptation.
• The Axolotl uses these gills (hidden behind external gills behind its head called rami) to filter oxygen out of the water around it.
• Like the jellyfish before it, the Axolotl's gills would have major problems functioning on land.

Komodo Dragon (Reptile)

Adaptation: Komodo Dragon's Venom

• The venom of the Komodo Dragon is different than the previous two adaptations, being physiological.
• The Komodo uses this venom on the occasion it actually hunts its prey rather than scavenging to weaken it. It is also used during encounters with enemies and predators.
• While this venom is useful, its usefulness would change if a Komodo was introduced into an area rich with plant life and insects rather than larger animals.

Little Brown Bat (Mammal)

Adaptation: Bat's Hibernation

• The hibernation cycle of the Little Brown Bat is neither structural or physiological, but behavioral.
• The bat, in order to conserve energy during cold winter months, enters a deep sleep, lowering its metabolism and its heart rate in order to keep alive without eating for months at a time.
• Because this adaptation depends on the chill of the winter, this adaptation wouldn't be useful in tropical climates.

Pink Salmon (Fish)

Adaptation: Salmon's Migration

• The Pink Salmon's peculiar migration is also a behavioral adaptation.
• The salmon, after spending its life traveling to the sea via rivers, turns around and makes its return to the very place it was spawned when the spawning times begin.
• With the salmon typically existing in rivers (and later oceans), this ability would rarely come into play in an environment such as a pond.