Biology genetics | Page 8

Adaptions

Page 8

Climate change has taken its toll and the ice age has started. The usually hot savannas of Africa are now freezing cold fields of snow. The giraffe needed to adapt to surviveThe white giraffe or Giraffa albamammuthis mainly live in the ice savanna in Zambia and Angola where there are lots of small mammals and few trees.

The White Giraffe

Directional selection

Directional selection is one extreme trait is favoured over the other extreme trait. Ex: A darker coloured moth will do better in an environment with dark coloured trees than a light coloured moth. So the population will eventually become mostly all darker coloured moths.

1. Grows white thick fur like a mammoth for warmth and to blend in with the snow

2. A giraffe used to have split hooves for better balance but the new terrain is icy and snowy, so it

dont to welI in the mud because it just sinks so the white giraffe gets paws so they won't sink in the snow and slip on ice

3. Enhanced digestive system to be able to digest meat (better digestive enzymes, etc.)

4. Shorter neck so the giraffe is less noticeable and easier to hide from predators and prey

5. Fast legs and sharp teeth so the giraffe can hunt small animals

6. White giraffes burrow in the snow when they are pregnant so they can give birth safely (non-pregnant giraffes do not den)

Natural Selection Continued