AL PRAT 1

Warith Win AL Prat

Ms. Orana Meenongwha
English 10/10:06
May 25, 2017

Life of Desert Animals

Introduction

The first thought about desert are usually dry, hot, camel. The desert is an area where

little rain occurs and living condition are hostile for plant and animal life. The desert can be

classified by the amount of rainfall, the temperature, and the location. Desert areas cover about

33% of the land on Earth and land surfaces include stones, sand dunes or snow. The desert is

built by weathering processes, because of the large change in temperature between day and

night, it puts strain on a rock and breaking it into pieces. It is not easy for animals in the desert to

live in this very high temperature, so the animal has many ways to adapt. There are four different

ways to adapt for desert animal. The first way to adapt is avoiding the heat. Due to a very high

temperature, animals need to avoid heat to cool down the body. Different types of animal have

different ways and technique to avoid heat. Flying animals usually fly to a cooler area or along

the Pacific coast to cool down the body. Some birds, can fly all day and do its activity, but

always need to rest in the shade frequently a day. Mammals and reptile sleep all day to cool

themselves in a very high temperature and be active at dawn and night. The second way is to

dissipating heat. Many animals have different ways to dissipate heat. Many desert mammals

have evolved to dissipate body heat into their environment. Some mammals like Fennec fox

have a large ear with many blood vessels, so it can release heat when the animal is resting in a

cool, shady location. Some birds open their mouth and rapidly evaporate water and heat. The
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third way is retaining water. This is not complicated because animals can get their moisture from

the food they eat or drink available water. The last one is acquiring water. Most of the animal

collect water from plants. Only special animals can recycle moist from their own breathing by

blocking the sunlight underground. A desert is an area with little precipitation and animal life are

hostile life have been evolving in different ways. Therefore, the purpose of this research will

look deep into 3 types of different animals and understand how it survive in desert.

Mammals

Mammals are one of the class of animals. There are several factors that make an animals

mammal. First is giving milk to feed their baby. Second, there are warm blooded. Third, all

mammals have fur or hair. Mammals are smart. Mammals have a very unique brain and usually

are very intelligent, for example dolphin, elephant, chimpanzee and pig. Fourth, all mammals are

vertebrates. Mammals that eat meat are called carnivores, for example lions, tigers, jaguar, etc.

Carnivores in desert are usually well known, example kit fox, bobcat and mountain lions.

Mammals that eat only plants are called herbivores, for example elephants, cow, giraffes, etc.

There are some desert herbivore animals, for example kangaroo rats and mice. These small

animals eat mainly seeds. Mammals that eat both meat and plants are called Omnivores, example

humans, chimpanzees, pigs, etc. There are only two successful desert animals that are

omnivores, which are coyote and raven. Mammals are divided into three main groups based on

how the babies are develop. There are monotremes, marsupials, and placental. Monotremes are

mammals that lay eggs. These mammals are very different from other mammals. There are only

three monotremes species left that are spiny anteater, or echidna, and the platypus. They all live

in Australia. Marsupial are mammals that give birth to babies that are not fully developed, then
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the babies crawl up the fur into its mother's pouch. The baby drink the milk from the mother and

continue to grow

Conclusion

To conclude, there are many types of animals and each of them has many different ways

to survive. Mammals are warm blooded. Mammals that live in a desert usually are nocturnal

because the temperature during day is too high for mammals. Fennec fox are an example for

mammals. The most interesting fact about fennec fox is its large ears. Its large ears can release

heat and maintain its body temperature. Reptiles are cold-blooded, so they have many ways to

maintain body temperature. Desert iguana is an example for reptiles. It is not that interesting

animal, but it is a good example for lizard. It has very powerful back legs and that make them

run fast. Birds are also warm blooded like mammals. They have feathers to maintain body

temperature, but it is hard for bird to fly all day because the temperature is high and it will be

dehydrated. Gila woodpecker is an example for birds. It is a very interesting bird, because of its

nest. They make a hole inside a tree or cactus for their baby. They chose to make inside a tree,

because it is safe and cool for the babies. The researcher chose three different interesting animals

to explain how it survive and adapt to the desert. Animals is a very important to the earth. If

people keep producing pollution and innocent animal will died. In the end, it is everyone

responsibility to protect the animals and environment. Let everyone does what he is responsible

to protect the wild.

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