| adapt:
an animal's fitting
into its environment by changing what it needs to live. |
| burrow:
either digging in the ground OR the underground home of some
animals. |
| carnivores:
meat-eating animals. |
| clans:
a group of animals that stay together. |
| climate:
temperature, wind, and rain conditions over a long period of
time. |
| cold-blooded:
animals having a body temperature that is controlled by the
outside temperature. A cold-blooded animal in 100 degree heat
will be 100 degrees inside its body. In 20 degree cold
weather, the animal will have an inside temperature of 20
degrees. |
| colony:
a group of same-kind animals that live together. |
| coterie:
a part of a colony of same-kind animals; sometimes a family
of animals in a larger colony. |
| diapause:
a period of time in the life cycle of insects where they don't grow
or develop and their body functions slow down a lot. |
| diurnal:
Active during the day |
| dormant:
a kind of sleep time that happens when the weather gets very hot or
very cold or in times of drought or other bad living
conditions. |
| drought:
a serious lack of rain. |
| environment:
the land and climate where an animal lives. |
| estivation:
summer hibernation when animals sleep to get away from heat, no
water, or their food source disappears. |
| hibernation:
winter sleeping where the animal's temperature, heart rate,
and body slow down so much that it might appear to be dead. |
| hoard:
when an animal gathers food, eats some, but saves the rest in
its nest or burrow. |
| litter:
the young animals born to a mother. This word means that more
than one is born at the same time. |
| nocturnal:
active and hunting during the night. |
| omnivores:
animals that eat everything whether it is meat or vegetable. |
| prairie:
a large area of grassland. |
| pregnant:
having an unborn child or baby animal inside the mother. |
| primate:
an mammal in the same group with humans, monkeys, and apes. |
| reptile:
a group of cold-blooded animals that have scaly skin. |
| roost:
a bird's perch |
| setts:
underground homes that have tunnels and rooms. |
| solitary:
living alone |
| temperate:
an area where the weather is never really hot or really cold. |
| temporary:
lasting only a little while |
| torpor:
sluggishness; a time when the heartbeat, temperature, and body
activities slow down. The animal is only a little alert. |
| tropical:
an area that has mostly warm to hot weather. |
| warm-blooded:
animals that have bodies that control their inside
temperatures to keep them warm. |
