Desert Animals Adaptations To Conserve Water
Because they have special adaptations to desert conditions.
Desert animals adaptations to conserve water. Adaptations in desert lizards are: To escape the desert heat, xerocoles tend to be either nocturnal or crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk. Desert animal species, like plants, face a tremendous amount of stress because of the extreme temperatures, lack of water, lack of food sources, and predators which are components of these ecosystems [10].
Adaptations enable indigenous plants and animals not merely to survive here, but to thrive most of the time. The enormous ears of jackrabbits, with their many blood vessels, release heat when the animal is resting in a cool, shady location. This is the leading method used by camels to resist the deprivation of water in the desert.
Certain insects also depend on nectar from flowers and sap from stems to get water. Animals in the desert have special adaptations that help them conserve water and survive a habitat with extreme temperatures and lack of shelter. The main challenges they must overcome are lack of water and excessive heat.
The nephrons in desert mammal camel are equipped with well developed henle's loop and number of juxtamedullary nephrons in kidneys is very high, about 35% (in man this number is about 15%). To conserve water, they both avoid evaporation and concentrate excretions. The desert environment may seem hostile, but this is purely an outsider’s viewpoint.
These animals have to overcome various challenges including excessive heat and lack of water to thrive in the desert. Most of these animals are either crepuscular. Insulating fur, long legs, large ears, specialized nasal passages and fatty deposits help some animals survive.
Other desert dwellers, such as coyotes, mule deer and bighorn sheep, require periodic free water. This helps desert animals live for long periods of time on minimal amounts of water. While the animals look like the biological equivalent of rocks, they have a secret to survival hidden inside those hard, dry shells—exceptional water storage capacity.