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Writer's pictureScience Holic

The Survival Tactics of Creatures in the Desert

Author: Harry Yoon

Editors: Ruoxi Lin, Ian Cho

Artist: Alvina Zheng

Even in the harshest of environments that dot the corners of the Earth, life bewilderingly finds a way to brave these conditions. The deserts that cover approximately thirty-three percent of the Earth’s land surface are no exception to this rule. Even through the vast, towering dunes of sand, the scorchingly hot climate that relents during the day, and the extreme aridity that creates a dearth of water, you will still be able to find signs of life scattered across the endless horizons of sand. Closely examining these creatures and the many ways they have evolved to adapt to the environment shows us first-hand the fascinating principle that guides the Tree of Life: evolution. 

Found in the semi-grassy, arid deserts of Australia, the thorny devil is one of the most eccentric creatures on our planet. It gets its name from the spiky thorns that cover their entire body with two very prominent spikes on their heads that fittingly bear a resemblance to a devil. Taken at face value, its spikes serve the purpose of scaring away potential predators. These thorns make it very hard for predators, like monitor lizards and carnivorous birds, to consume them without damaging their throats.  However, they also serve a secondary function crucial to the survival of these reptiles: the small grooves and edges allow these creatures to use capillary action to send water directly to their mouths. You might know that when you place narrow objects, like straws, in a glass of water, the water level inside the straw rises and the water that surrounds the straw tends to climb up the sides. This is capillary action, made possible because of water’s polar characteristics. It is important because it is what enables water to fight gravity and provide nutrients to plants and trees by climbing up their roots. Thorny devils use this phenomenon to transport water to their mouths simply by standing in a puddle of water. They will often brush up against dew-covered grass, and in dire moments, they will dig underground to absorb the moisture from the sand. This unique feature is what allows them to stay hydrated in the dry conditions of the desert.

Our next creature is the cute long-eared jerboa, found in the deserts of Mongolia and China. This rodent is a mix between a mouse and a kangaroo, with long ears, strong hind legs, and a long tail. They can use their powerful legs to propel their light body (which is only 3 inches long, with a tail of 6 inches) to evade many predators by simply running from them. Their hind legs, which share many similarities to those of a kangaroo, help them propel their small bodies when they feel endangered. These powerful strides help them reach speeds of up to 25 km/h, and they can even reach an astonishing vertical height of three meters. There are thirty-three different species of jerboas, but the long-eared variants have specifically adapted to survive in the hot temperatures of the desert. These tiny rodents spend most of their time underground to avoid the heat during the day, using their tiny hands and powerful feet to help them burrow into the sand. Another prominent feature of the long-eared jerboa is, as the name suggests, its ears. Their large, thin ears, which are two-thirds of their own body length, help cool their body temperature down by allowing heat to dissipate out of them as temperatures rise. 

Found mostly in Africa, the meerkat is a family of mongoose that lives in groups of up to thirty members known as mobs. They live together in burrows underneath the ground that help them stay cool in the desert heat  These weasel-looking animals have brown coats of fur that help them blend with the desert surroundings and dark spots around their eyes that help them deal with the powerful glare of the sun. Meerkats have adapted their diet to perfectly match the harsh conditions of Southern Africa. Their main source of nutrition comes from eating insects like larvae and termites, and their immunity to scorpion venom allows them to feast on the deadly arachnids with little danger. Another remarkable trait they possess is their ability to survive in a dry climate without much water. Meerkats don’t need substantial amounts of water to survive and are usually able to meet their hydration requirements simply from the insects they devour. 

The diversity of these desert species and their unique, fascinating adaptations to their unrelenting environments display the power of change and survival that is present in the relationship between a species and its environment. This relationship, along with the animals’ interactions with other species, determines what kinds of traits they might acquire and ultimately decides if they will continue to thrive in their unique ecosystem or fall to the brutalities of the animal kingdom.

 

Citations:

“Thorny Devil.” Thorny Devil - Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.Bio, Animalia,

animalia.bio/thorny-devil. Accessed 23 Aug. 2024. 

“Thorny Devils.” BushHeritageMVC, Bush Heritage Australia,

The Long-Eared Jerboa Stands—and Hops—in a Class of Its Own | Magazine Articles | WWF,

World Wildlife, www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/summer-2018/articles/the-

“Jerboas.” Young People’s Trust For the Environment, 10 Sept. 2014,

“Meerkat.” Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute,

nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/meerkat. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024. 

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