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About Desert Animals

Located in Palm Desert and just 15 minutes from Palm Springs, The Living Desert's mission is desert conservation through preservation, education and appreciation. Click here to become a member. Campers learn about plants and animals, the environment (including our own desert) and what it's like to work at a zoo Quarters for Conservation. Choose a Conservation Project and help protect wild animals and plants around the planet! You can become an important part of The Living Desert's conservation efforts through our Adopt! Program.

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Desert animals face many challenges to survival and have developed a multitude of adaptations to endure the harsh conditions. Avoiding heat, dissipating heat, retaining water, and acquiring water are the most crucial. Desert animals have evolved mechanisms to solve the heat and water problems the desert environment creates, and there are as many or more adaptations as there are desert dwelling species. Some of the many adaptive responses to desert dwelling follow:

Avoiding Heat:
  • Crepuscular activity - active morning and evening - one reason, humans seldom encounter rattlesnakes and Gila Monsters
  • Completely nocturnal (Bats, snakes, rodents foxes and skunks)
  • Seasonal migration or soaring to higher elevations
  • Use of shade and burrows or dens during the heat of the day
  • Estivation dormancy during periods of heat and dryness

Dissipating heat:
  • Open-mouthed gaping to exhaust body heat
  • Long appendages and enormous ears that act like the radiator of a car
  • Lighter coloration, which reflects heat and acts as camouflage in desert surroundings
  • Urohydrosis - excreting feces on the legs, where evaporation cools the rest of the body (birds)

Retaining water:
  • Burrowing into moist soil where water is absorbed through the skin
  • Obtaining their moisture needs from the food they eat
  • Excreting metabolic wastes in the form of uric acid to conserve water

Acquiring water:
  • Deriving water directly from plants, particularly succulents, such as cactus
  • Living in sealed underground dens to recycle moisture from their own breathing
  • Specialized kidneys that extract water from their urine
  • Specialized organs that recapture exhaled moisture in the nasal cavities
  • Manufacturing water metabolically from digestion of dry food items