Background reading · Science
Adaptation: why living things fit where they live
Features that help survival are passed on, and over many generations populations change.
An adaptation is a feature that helps a living thing survive and reproduce where it lives. The kiwi's long bill with nostrils at the tip finds worms underground. The tūī's brush-tipped tongue collects nectar.
How adaptations spread
Individuals in a population are slightly different, and some of those differences are inherited. If a difference helps an individual survive and have more young, more of the next generation will carry it. Over many generations the population changes. This is evolution by natural selection.
When the environment changes fast
Adaptations that suited Aotearoa for millions of years, like flightlessness in a land without mammals, became a danger when people brought rats, stoats and cats. Change can happen faster than a population can adapt.
What this means for your site
When you record which species are doing well, ask what features help them cope with the changes you found, and which species lack them.
Sources and further reading
Written for Kōkiri Learn students in our own words. Check facts against the sources.