Adaptations are special features that allow a plant or animal to live at a particular place.
Animal Adaptations
Animals have adapted some special features to help them live in desert areas.
Desert animals avoid drinking water. They drink very little water.
Desert animals take in as much water as they can from their food.
They also avoid foods that need more water to digest.
They excrete very less water.
Cactus mice eat fruits and insects for water. Elf owls and kit foxes get all the water they need from their prey.
Desert animals minimise the loss of water from skin. Reptiles like the Texas horned lizards have tough, thick skin that does not let water out.
Desert mammals also sweat very less.
Desert animals store fat in their bodies. That fat helps them to cool their bodies.
Plant Adaptations
Plants that grow in desert areas grow very long roots to find the water from the very deep.
As water is lost through leaves, the desert plants have hard and thin leaves. Cactus have spines instead of leaves.
Some plants also store water in their stem instead of in leaves, to avoid loss of water. Elephant trees have a thick trunk that stores water for days. The tree and leaves have waxy coating to avoid loss of water.
Desert plants flower mostly during rains.
Plants are adapted to live on very less water. Desert Sage is a shrub that does not need water after it has grown well.
