Question

1. What adaptations does a snake have that allows it to be successful in its natural habitat?

2. What does the life cycle look like for the snake ? The Sporophyte? Gametophyte?

Answer 1

Natural habitat of snakes

Snakes are found to dwell in a variety of habitats such as water, forests, and deserts. Others live in water environments. They adapt differently in different habitats.

Terrestrial habitats and adaptations

• Feeding: Snakes do not have legs, arms, ears or any other appendages. This allows them to slither through ground without disturbing its prey. Such a smooth body also allows them to enter small burrows and holes to catch rodents.
• Camouflage and protection : Some color and body patterns allows the Snakes to blend in with their surroundings and serves as a means of camouflage to protect themselves from predators. In some other cases, certain poisonous Snakes have very bright colors which makes them easily spotted by animals, and thereby giving a warning signal that they are poisonous.
• Arboreal dwelling : Snakes that live in an arboreal habitat have a long prehensile tail and thin bodies that allows them to excert strong grip on to tree branches.
• In deserts : Snakes adapt to the arid environments by means of grey--brown camouflage. In orderto aadapt to the temperature changes, they will either take shelter in burrows (at extreme summer season) or will undergo hibernation (in winter seasons).

Aquatic habitat adaptations

Snakes that live occasionally in water have eyes and nostrils on the top of their head to enable air breathing.

Marine snakes have a flatenned tail for swimming and performs cutaneous respiration to survive in sea water.

Life cycle

The life cycle of snakes is very similar to that of a sporophyte. A sporophyte is a diploid generation that produces haploid spores. Similarly, a snake is a diploid organism that produces haploid gametes (egg and sperm) which fuses to produce fertilized eggs that hatches into a new diploid individual (again a sporophyte).