Desert is a very barren land, the climate is harsh, its main feature is lack of water. An environment that is more detrimental to such survival, but the species of plants and animals living here is not less. In such harsh environments, how do these animals survive and live?
Desert represents a challenging environment for animals. Animals that want to survive in the desert must have at least two possibilities. One is the ability to travel on this terrain, because sandy soils can bury at any time; Second is the ability to store water, when leaving the water, any organism only dead road. Especially for water supply, desert animals supplement water through the metabolism and oxidation of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Oxidation 1 gram Carbohydrate produces 0.60 grams of water; 1 gram of protein produces 0.41 grams of water; And 1 gram of fat produces 1.07 grams of water. As such, they can live without or without drinking water.
With regard to the two possibilities of travel and water storage, the lizard can be regarded as a primitive model, its front openings forming a large membrane, propelling its body to travel comfortably in the desert. The When the night falls, fog covers the desert, the lizard's body and eyes use the maximum capacity to gather the dew, in addition to its long tongue can lick the dew before the eyes.
To better understand the problem, let's look at the adaptability of the desert to some species!
The mice are an example of the use of water through metabolism and preservation of water by controlling the rate of metabolism at a low level and buried under sand in the heat of the day, making Reduce dehydration through the coat and respiratory system when they rest. To avoid heat, the mice dug the holes beneath the desert sand to the damp ground. Walking on the sand is not always easy. Most desert rodents jump rather than go. Rats, desert rats, kangaroos and other small rodents go out of their cave at night and thus make foxes, wolves, jackals and snakes hunt them. Mice keep their pacemakers inflated, panting, sweating and moisturizing their forelegs with saliva.
The kangaroo (kestrel) mice include kangaroo mice, desert rock mice. Most of these species live in complex huts in the desert and grasslands of western North America. The kangaroos are native to North America. They have very well developed hind legs while the front legs are quite small and the head is much larger than the body. The length of the tail is greater than the length of the body and the head is added. On either side of the mouth there are cheeks that can be used to store food.
Euchoreutes naso, which live mainly at night, is almost always in the cave under the ground, and they dig their own habitat, mostly living in the desert. , the river basin is covered with white sand and includes shrubby trees.
One of the most desirable inhabitants of the desert is the Paraechinus aethiopicus, found in Africa and the Middle East. This animal adapted to dry desert life by living in cave day and night hunting. It eats everything from insect and boneless animals to bird eggs and snakes and scorpions.
Large herbivores do not have the ability to hide in the cave, so they face many serious problems. They usually only live on the edge of the desert, where they arrange themselves for shade and water. Addax and gazelle antelope can live without drinking water. The only moisture they give is from the source of water and mist that they can find in plants. Mammals eat grass from the plants they eat. Species such as Addax, Dik-dik, Grant, and Oryx are very effective in this method, so they do not need water.
Addax nasomaculatus or helix horns is the largest native mammal in the Sahara. These animals migrate into small herds throughout Western Sahara, Mautitania and Chad. Instead of drinking water, it filters moisture from grass and desert bushes. Overly clumsy hooves help the animal move skillfully across the desert's sandy slopes.
Sonoran. This species has adapted to live in extremely difficult environments. It can eat and digest grass that other herbivores do not eat, including dry desert grass and even cactus. Its coat can withstand cold temperatures at night, as well as hot temperatures during hot days.
This large Arabian horns are capable of living in harsh desert conditions. They have white fur that reflects sunlight during the day, darkened legs that absorb cold heat in the morning in the desert. This species is usually eaten at dawn and dusk, resting in shady bushes avoiding the noon heat. This species can move for days, even weeks without a drop of water. They give the body water by drinking dew on trees and food.
the Camels are wonderful example of a mammal adapted to desert life. they minimizes dehydration by producing concentrated urine and dried faeces, and can lose 40% of its body weight through dehydration without dying due to dehydration.
Camels, often associated with the Sahara, appeared in the desert around 200 AD. Compared to the horses they replace, the advantage of camels is that their legs are soft so they can move quickly, easily through sand and the ability to survive for 17 days without food or water.
Desert elephants are desert elephants, not a distinct species of African elephant, but the African scrub (Loxodonta africana) have chosen their habitat in the desert. They are dry, and this leads to a number of unique characteristics and abilities to adapt to the habitat. Desert elephants have been developed to adapt to desert living and their body composition tends to have relatively broader feet, longer legs and smaller elephant-like bodies. other African shaggy.
Predators can absorb water from the body in their prey.
The Sechura fox or Peruvian desert fox (Lycalopex sechurae) is found in the Sechura desert in southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru. This fox often live in desert deserts and semi-desertes, although sometimes go south into the prairie. During the day, they rest in caves, caves can be up to 15 meters long and down to 2 meters to the ground. When they drown, they go out for food including plants and berries, rodents, reptiles and insects. They have the ability to retain water from its food, and have almost completely abstained from drinking.
Fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is a small desert fox that is found in the Sahara desert of North Africa. The most distinctive feature is that its ears are unusually large, serving for heat dissipation. Fox Fennec is the smallest of them. The ear, hair and kidney functions are adapted to high temperature, low water, desert environment. In addition, its hearing sensitivity is quite sharp, which can hear the prey moving underground. It mainly feeds on insects, small mammals, and birds. The large ears also help to detect the smallest noise in the quiet atmosphere of the desert, the sensitivity of the sand fox is particularly sensitive. With a weight of less than 1.4 kilograms, foxes live in sand dunes during the day and hunt at night.
Sand cat or sand dune is a species living in the desert regions of Africa and Asia. It is quite small in size and looks like a raft with short legs, long tail and large, pointed ears. Their head is large, the ears are so large that they can be spread horizontally and even downwards for hunting. Sandy cats have thick hairs in the middle of their toes, which gives them a thicker coat that will not hurt them when walking in desert sand.
African marshes have become the symbol of the Kalahari desert. This species has some of the characteristics of the body that help them adapt to desert life. This species can store water from predators such as insects, snakes and scorpions. This species is immune to scorpion venom and can tolerate six times the amount of snake venom that can kill a rabbit. This species can eat roots and tubers if water is needed. Black spots around the eyes of this species help them reduce the glare of sunlight.
Wild dogs and many hyenas are among the carnivores living in the Sahara. The Arabian Wolf is a subspecies of the adaptive gray wolf living in extreme desert conditions. This species has a long coat that protects the body against cold temperatures during the wet season. In summer, this species has short coat, but there are long hairs growing upwards on the back that help them resist the heat of the sun. They also have large ears to help disperse the body temperature, to get rid of the heat, it will dig deep and rest in the shade.
The lion in the Kalahari Desert is a subspecies of African lions specifically adapted to the desert habitat. This species has long legs and a neat body, and strong resistance to thirst, they can withstand two weeks without drinking water, relying solely on prey to supply water to the body. They cool down by panting and sweating through the pads of the feet.
There are few birds nesting in the desert, but Pteroclididae is an exception. They fly very far to find water and bring in small amounts by permeating the belly. The Pteroclididae are an expert in camouflage and nesting in the open desert in the puddles that they drink every day tens of kilometers.
Some small daytime birds are found in very limited locations where their plumage resembles the color of the underlying surface. Ammomanes deserti sand dunes often ensure that it resembles its living environment.
Costa Hummingbird can be found in the desert of Sonoran and Mojave, which can adapt well in the desert environment. They can escape the heat of hot summer days by flying to the bushes. When night temperatures fall sharply, they enter the sleep state, slowing the normal heart rate from 500-900 beats per minute to 50 beats per minute to conserve energy.
In daylight in the Sahara, temperatures can rise to 50 ° C (122 ° F). Reptiles can not survive at this temperature, and lizards will collapse due to heat at 45 ° C (113 ° F). They are less adapted to desert life and can not be cooled by sweating so they need to hide from the sun during the day. In the early part of the night, when the warming ground is absorbed during the day, they appear and prepare to hunt.
The Saharan Viper of the Sahara moves by waving.
Each animal has its own survival method, its own unique ability. There are some animals that rely on desert plants, some are hidden in sand caves, when the dew falls down, they immediately crawl to the ground using the full-body martial arts, adding content water to live. Thus, real deserts are not the realm of life, just as the South Pole, the deep sea, in these special environments, their own particular mode of living.