Re: How have animals in the arctic adapted to the freezing conditions?

This is a very wide-ranging question which would take a long time to answer properly as each animal solves the problems posed by life in the arctic in its own way. The best way to approach the subject is to choose one or two animals which especially interest you, and find out how they are adapted.

Apart from the low temperatures which must be endured, the main problem facing arctic animals is the length and darkness of the winter. Arctic land-mammals such as polar bears and musk oxen have thick, warm fur to protect them from the cold. Even the soles of a polar bear's feet are hairy, while the musk ox has two layers of fur - a long, coarse outer coat and very fine wool underneath.

During the long winter it is difficult to find food in the frozen landscape. Polar bears search the floating sea ice for the hollows where young seals are hidden and musk oxen dig through the snow to find the dried, frozen remains of last year's vegetation. This may not sound very appetising but it is more of less the same thing as hay - dried grass from the summer - that farmers feed to their livestock in winter. It is said that musk oxen are fatter at the end of the winter than they are at the end of the summer because they easily become overheated in the summer and waste a lot of energy chasing each other around during the rut.

This website contains many more examples of interesting adaptations of arctic animals:
http://www.nps.gov/akso/ParkWise/Students/ReferenceLibrary/BELA/ArcticAdaptations.htm