Imagine trying to survive in deserts, grasslands and forests on every continent except Antarctica. For many animals, a habitat like this would be impossible. Yet the scorpion, a arachnid from 1 centimeter to about 20 centimeters long, thrives there, thanks to features that scientists call adaptations: traits that help a living thing survive in its environment.
Consider a curved tail with a venom-filled stinger: this adaptation stuns prey and drives away enemies. The word venom refers to a poison an animal injects by biting or stinging. Equally important is a waxy outer covering, which keeps water inside its body in dry places. Without these traits, the scorpion would struggle to last a single season.
As a carnivore, the scorpion is an animal that eats other animals; it depends on insects, spiders and small lizards. Its behavior matters as much as its body: it hides under rocks during the day and hunts at night. Behaviors like this are adaptations too, even though you cannot see them in a photograph.
The next generation faces the same challenges. Young scorpions, called scorplings, depend on their surroundings and on adult care. Newborn scorpions ride on their mother's back until their first molt.
Perhaps most remarkable of all: scorpions glow blue-green under ultraviolet light. Facts like this remind us that every animal's body tells a story about the place it lives.