Question

Which features adapt polar bears to live in extremely cold climates?
A. White fur, fat below skin, keen sense of smell
B. Thin skin, large eyes, white fur
C. Long tail, strong claws, white large paws
D. White body, paws for swimming, gills for respiration

Answer 1

Hint: Adaptation is an evolutionary process that helps and enables an organism to be able to “fit” better in their environment. It confers better survival strategies and ability to reproduce. Thus, it helps in enhancing the rate of evolutionary fitness along with the biological fitness of the organism. Extremely colder climates require a small surface area to volume ratio to minimize the loss of body heat. Adaptation also helps in camouflage.

Complete explanation:
Option A (White fur, fat below skin, keen sense of smell): The white fur of the polar bear helps in camouflaging with the snow (environment) and this helps the polar bears to not be easily preyed upon. The fat below the skin serves as a layer of insulation to provide warmth and more body heat to the polar bears. They have a strong sense of smell to locate their prey and hunt for them easily in the extremely cold climate.
So, option A is correct.
Option B (Thin skin, large eyes, white fur): polar bears don’t have thin skin. Their skin is originally black with thick white fur and a very thick layer of blubber or fat underneath it. They have small round eyes.
So, option B is not correct.
Option C (Long tail, strong claws, white large paws): Like all bears, polar bears have very short tails. Even if they have large paws and strong claws, their tails are not long.
So, option C is not correct.
Option D (White body, paws for swimming, gills for respiration): Polar bears are mammals. They don’t have gills for respiration. Their bodies are all black to absorb heat but have thick white fur. Their paws are strong and they have curved claws too that help in swimming.
So, option D is not correct.

Hence, Option A is the correct answer.

Note:
Migration is also a type of adaptation. Many times, different species and organisms migrate to avoid extreme temperatures even in really cold climates. Adaptation may be physiological, structural, inborn or behavioral. Some organisms even perform mimicry or mimic another organism which could possibly be its predator to prevent being attacked or killed. Adaptations seen in an organism may change with time as evolution progresses along with their environmental factors and can also lead to coevolution and coadaptation.