Duck+-+Future+Animal

= Beiga Duck (Future Animal) = By Cheryl Young 10C

<<Canvasback Duck (Modern Animal) < <<Zhongjianornis yangi (Extinct Animal)

This future animal is similar to the Canvasback Duck, yet it is of a different species. Its scientific name being //Hebetes aviarius//, meaning 'Dull Avian'. The following will explain the adaptations the creature has undergone in order to survive on this planet. Possible pressures leading to this appearance will also be explained.

HABITAT
==

= = 250 million years into the future, the world would be very different to what it is today. Because of the continental drift, all the plates would collide and form one single landmass known as "Pangea Ultima" (Refer to Figure no. 1). Although the Beiga duck is likely to feed on a similar diet to its ancestor, the Canvasback, and other duck species, due to the land-locking effect, there will be a larger variety of places for the Beiga duck to migrate for the purpose of feeding and breeding. While the Beiga duck is able to travel farther, it will also encounter more predators. In oceans, it may encounter [|sharks]. In marshes, it may encounter [|crocodiles] that arrived through other regions. In forests, large amounts of [|foxes] will prey on the Beiga as well. However, due to global warming and changes in land, a decline in coastal areas becomes more apparent, causing the duck to become more competitive for food over water.

ADAPTATIONS
==

Structural Adaptation 1
With the need to eat a larger variety of food, the Beiga duck no longer used its webbed feet for swimming only, but had developed extended talons for catching prey. During swimming, the flexible webs of skin between its toes would tighten to serve as a good paddle. When catching its prey, for example: fish, the flexible webs loosen to allow the talons to stretch out and effectively hook onto its food.

Structural Adaptation 2
The Beiga duck has developed its digestive system so that they can eat a larger variety of food. With a larger stomach capacity, the Beiga duck is able to swallow larger quantities of food at one time. Its digestive juice is powerful enough to dissolve an entire fish without it ever being chewed, as the Beiga duck has no teeth.

Behavioural Adaptation 1
Continuing its relationship with others of its own species, the Beiga duck enhances the teaming behaviour. For example, when confronting predators such as eagles, the males will team up in groups of 5-10 against the predator while the females try to escape with their young.

Behavioural Adaptation 2
With global warming in effect and the temperature on the ground getting higher, the Beiga tends to stay near the coastal area (Refer to Figure no.1). With its nesting site changed, the Beiga has adapted to this selective pressure by changing its tactics on where to build its nest. Due to the pressure as to where the Beiga is able to lay its eggs, it has resorted to shifting its nesting location to nearby cliffs. The Beiga searches for an empty hole in the side of a cliff and builds its nest there.

The male and female take distinct responsibility in looking after the eggs. While the females look after the eggs, the males are in charge of protecting the nest and looking for food.

Physiological Adaptation
As the sea levels rise, more aquatic food is available, for example: fish. To compete with other species for food, the Beiga duck adapted by staying longer underwater. To do this, the Beiga enhanced its oxygen binding system. Its hemoglobin can contain a large amount of oxygen while its tissue cells function effectively at low oxygen levels.

Environmental Pressure
As the temperature increases due to global warming, the inland marshes would have eventually dried up, leaving the Beiga duck with nowhere to feed on. Resorting to the coastal area, the only abundance in food are fish, which are found much deeper than in bays. Due to this pressure, the Beiga duck developed several of its features to adapt to its new environment and is able to compete with other species for food.