Exposed surface area is an important concept that can be used to explain the gamut of phenomena from digestion to evaporation and then some. Even when I went to the Bird Paradise, I could use the exposed surface area concept to explain why flamingoes stand on one leg. This is today’s question, courtesy of Sci Shifu. A diagram of organism Y standing in the water is shown in the diagram below. When the water is cold, organism Y is often found standing on one leg. Identify the type of adaption displayed by organism Y and explain why organism Y stands on one leg. let’s see if you can use the concept of exposed surface area to solve this!  

Solution

• behavioural adaptation.
• Organism Y stands on one leg to reduce its exposed surface area to the cold water. This helps to reduce heat loss from organism Y to the cold water, thus keeping it warm.