ADAPTATIONS

Here is Fred of the Betorians, a species that lives in Lursaville.

Lursaville is full of trees that Fred climbs to get the species’ preferred food. The Betorians use their tails to climb up the trees.

Some of the Betorians, such as Ethel above, have short tails or no tails at all. They are forced to scrounge on the ground and have found alternative food sources. However, they are not the most likely to survive because the food is more scarce than the food in the trees.

A destructive force depletes all of the trees and NONE survive leaving behind barren lands. The Betorians no longer need to climb trees to find their food. What will they do?

Ethel and the other short tails may now have an advantage over the other Betorians.

Ecological succession occurs, but only low growing grasses and bushes return.

Fred and the other long tails must now eat the low growing foods. They do not need to climb to reach them.

Ethel and her friend Marge, who has no tail at all, now have an advantage. They know the best low growing foods to eat.

Over time, thousands and thousands of years, the Betorians become a species without tails. Since they didn’t need them to reach food that was high off the ground, those with small or no tails were able to survive better than those with tails. They adapted to their changed environment, survived, reproduced, and passed on their genetic trait of not having a tail.