Adapted to swimming
Natatorial describes animals that are adapted to locomotion in water - they are swimmers. They fall into three categories: those that evolved in water (for instance sharks and jellyfish), those that had land living ancestors but have returned to an aquatic life (dolphins and manatees) and those that split their time between water and land (penguins, crocodiles) and need to move around efficiently in both. Animals which just have a swim now and then - say to cross a river - are not natatorial.
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Star-nosed moles 
Skin shedding 
Elephant spa 
Fastest fish in slow motion 
Helping Hands 
Weird mammals 
Fish types 
Food on the run 
Ants ahoy! 
Swimming ants 
Underwater wasps
Peale's dolphins
Andes to Amazon
Peale's dolphins are small and agile swimmers, reaching speeds of over 15 miles an hour.
High-speed dolphins
Planet Earth
Unique aerial shots of dolphins travelling at high speed towards their hunting target.
Hydroplaning dolphins
Planet Earth
Dolphins in Western Australia learn an ingenious new fishing trick.
Polar bear swim
Planet Earth
Climate change forces hungry males to strike out ever further into the sea.
Species with this adaptation
Amphibians
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Common toad
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Chinese giant salamander
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Great crested newt
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Japanese giant salamander
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Siberian salamander
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Texas blind salamander
Birds
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Whooper swan
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Socotra cormorant
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Clark's grebe
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Adelie penguin
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Chinstrap penguin
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Emperor penguin
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King penguin
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Macaroni penguin
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Snares crested penguin
Cartilaginous fishes
Tiger shark 
Great white shark 
Whale shark 
Manta ray Insects
Great diving beetle 
Banded demoiselle 
Tisza mayfly Mammals
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Antarctic fur seal
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Baikal seal
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Brown fur seal
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Crabeater seal
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Galápagos fur seal
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Giant river otter
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Grey seal
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Leopard seal
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Otter
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Polar bear
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Sea otter
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Southern Elephant Seal
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Southern sea lion
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Walrus
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Weddell seal
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Amazonian manatee
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Dugong
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Platypus
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Star-nosed mole
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Blue whale
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Common bottlenose dolphin
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Grey whale
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Humpback whale
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Killer whale
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Pantropical spotted dolphin
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Peale's dolphin
Octopus, Squid and allies
North Pacific giant octopus 
Giant cuttlefish Ray-finned fishes
Tambaqui 
Atlantic sailfish 
Brown trout 
Leafy sea dragon 
Weedy sea dragon Reptiles
Chinese alligator 
Nile crocodile 
Yacare caiman 
Banded sea krait 
Black-banded sea krait 
Grass snake 
Marine iguana 
Giant river turtle 
Olive ridley turtles About
Swimming is biologically propelled motion through a liquid medium. Swimming has evolved a number of times in a range of organisms ranging from arthropods to fish to molluscs.
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Other Locomotion Adaptations
- Adapted to climbing
- Adapted to flying
- Adapted to gliding
- Adapted to jumping
- Adapted to swimming
- Sessile
Habitats where this adaptation is useful
Elsewhere on the web
- Aquatic locomotion (wikipedia.org)
Site links
BBC links
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