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Hello, my name is Sandra Hawkins, and I will be your tour guide on this Adaptation Nature Walk. We will travel all over the world exploring unique species and how they have evolved and adapted to fit their environment.
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First, we will visit frigid Alaska, where wood frogs have a different take on winter survival. Instead of hibernating, these frogs drain their organs of water, which will protect the organs from sharp ice fragments. Then, the frog pumps its blood full of sugar, which raises the freezing temperature of any bit of water left.
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This technique protects the wood frog from frostbite and organ damage, while preserving the organs from decay, because decomposers won't survive the frosty internal temperatures of the wood frog.
In the spring, the wood frog thaws, and its organs return to working properly.
This is just one example of how environmental pressures, such as extremely cold climates, lead a species to evolve useful survival strategies such as the ability to freeze itself safely in the winter.
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Habana, Cuba, is home to the Habanero Pepper, one of the world's hottest peppers. Habanero peppers are interesting, because mammals are affected by their heat while birds aren't. This is a defense mechanism that developed in these peppers in defense of their predators. A predator to a plant is any organism that prevents the reproduction of more plants.
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In the case of peppers, mammals are predators because the seeds are destroyed as they digested by mammals. However, when birds eat the peppers, the seeds flow right through their system, and are scattered when the birds poop. This lets the pepper multiply, so they like birds to eat them. Here is yet another example of how pressures such as predation lead peppers to evolve a unique defense mechanism.
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The fruit fly is a very common insect found on nearly every continent in the world. However, the super fruit fly, called Methuselah, was bred in a laboratory during an experiment testing "jumping genes". In this lab, scientists found that certain parts of DNA strands jumped to a different chromosome. In the case of Methuselah, this jumping gene lead to a super-power mutation which increased life expectancy and resistance to high temperatures and hunger.
Because this mutation helped Methuselah live, it became more and more common in Methuselah fruit flies, which shows that evolution in this laboratory species occurred.
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We are almost done with our nature walk, but we have two more stops before it is over. First, we will stop in the desolate deserts of Northern Africa, to learn about the adaptive desert locust that will change its habits and skin color based on its surroundings.
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If there is a lack of food when a baby locust is born, then the baby develops camouflage and lives by itself. This is a defense mechanism to help the locust hide from predators.
However, if there is an abundance of food when a baby locust is born, then the locust is brightly colored and lives in a group. As a group, the locusts are safer because predators are less likely to attack large populations.
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Hello, my name is Sandra Hawkins, and I will be your tour guide on this Adaptation Nature Walk. We will travel all over the world exploring unique species and how they have evolved and adapted to fit their environment.
![StoryJumper Logo](https://www.storyjumper.com/images/cloud-logo-250.png)
![](https://images2-cdn.storyjumper.net/transcoder.png?trim&id=32-b7bugv8b38-jh7wvi9f&maxw=512&maxh=512)
First, we will visit frigid Alaska, where wood frogs have a different take on winter survival. Instead of hibernating, these frogs drain their organs of water, which will protect the organs from sharp ice fragments. Then, the frog pumps its blood full of sugar, which raises the freezing temperature of any bit of water left.
![](https://images2-cdn.storyjumper.net/transcoder.png?trim&id=29f04d1222&maxw=128&maxh=128)
![](https://images2-cdn.storyjumper.net/transcoder.png?trim&id=4fc75939322666&maxw=128&maxh=128)
This technique protects the wood frog from frostbite and organ damage, while preserving the organs from decay, because decomposers won't survive the frosty internal temperatures of the wood frog.
In the spring, the wood frog thaws, and its organs return to working properly.
This is just one example of how environmental pressures, such as extremely cold climates, lead a species to evolve useful survival strategies such as the ability to freeze itself safely in the winter.
![](https://images2-cdn.storyjumper.net/transcoder.png?trim&id=29f04d1222&maxw=128&maxh=128)
![](https://images2-cdn.storyjumper.net/transcoder.png?trim&id=4fc75939322666&maxw=128&maxh=128)
![](https://images2-cdn.storyjumper.net/transcoder.png?trim&id=29f04d1222&maxw=128&maxh=128)
![](https://images2-cdn.storyjumper.net/transcoder.png?trim&id=4fc75939322666&maxw=128&maxh=128)
Habana, Cuba, is home to the Habanero Pepper, one of the world's hottest peppers. Habanero peppers are interesting, because mammals are affected by their heat while birds aren't. This is a defense mechanism that developed in these peppers in defense of their predators. A predator to a plant is any organism that prevents the reproduction of more plants.
![](https://images2-cdn.storyjumper.net/transcoder.png?trim&id=29f04d1222&maxw=128&maxh=128)
![](https://images2-cdn.storyjumper.net/transcoder.png?trim&id=4fc75939322666&maxw=128&maxh=128)
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