Cold Desert Animals Adaptations

Have large bat-like ears radiate body heat and help keep them cool.

Cold desert animals adaptations. Most of the plants in cold deserts are low shrubs a short bushlike plant. Small mammals such as kangaroo rats kangaroo mice pocket mice grasshopper mice antelope ground squirrels badger kit fox and coyote as well as several lizards all dig burrows to wait out the cold weather. Cold deserts also called temperate deserts are located in the temperate latitudes of earth.

God gave rattlesnakes poison to help protect them from predators and to help them catch their food. Thick layers of fat and fur - for insulation against the cold. Other desert animals have different adaptations.

Have light coloured fur to reflect sunlight and keep their bodies cools. Thick waxy skin to reduce loss of water and to reflect heat. A white appearance - as camouflage from prey on the snow and ice.

Some types of deer live in the these kinds of desert only in the winter though. Water is used up in the coolingprocess and can quickly dehydrate even the most water retentive animal so most desert animals have adapted their. Adaption to nocturnal life The average daytime temperatures in the desert often exceed more than 38C.

Animal Adaptations Deer inhabit some of these areas only in winter having grown a thick fur coat and then migrate in the summer season after shedding this coat. Cold desert animals such as lizards camels and gazelles show different adaptations to protect themselves in the cold climate. The shape of a birds beak helps them to eat food as well as make nests.

Common adaptations include modified exoskeleton camouflaging and burrowing. Just like animals plants need to adapt to the dryness cold temperatures and saltiness of the soils of cold deserts. Since the temperatures below the surface are much cooler than above it many of the small to medium-sized animals living in the desert dig burrows to spend the hot daytime hours only coming out during the night.