How Desert Animals Survive Harsh Conditions
What are the reasons that animals found in deserts can survive there?
How Animals Survive in Deserts
Deserts are considered hot, dry lands consisting of mostly sand, rock, plateau, and mountains. Generally, deserts can be defined as the areas where the amount of water evaporates in the air is considerably more than the rain that falls onto the land.
In the desert, the temperature of the desert can rise as high as 50 degrees celsius or even more during day daytime. There is no cloud or cover in the desert to keep the warmth in; as a result, the desert doesn’t retain the warmth that it has acquired during day daytime. Therefore, its temperature falls as low as -20 degrees Celsius in some places.
Deserts can also be very windy sometimes, which can stir up violent sandstorms. Examples of deserts are the Mojave and Sonora deserts in the U.S., the Namib and Kalahari deserts in Africa, the Great Victoria Desert in Australia, and the Arabian Desert in the Arabian Peninsula.
Even in these harsh and treacherous conditions, few deserts are completely sterile. Different plants and animals have adapted to survive in such a habitat. Plants often have thin, modified leaves or stems to store water, and some remain dormant during dry times, only coming to life when one of the brief rainstorms comes along. During the heat of the day, animals survive in deserts either by living underground or resting in burrows. Some creatures absorb the moisture from their food, so they don’t drink much water in the desert. Others live along the edges of deserts, where they can find more plants and shelter.
– Written By Aashutosh
Responses