Dromedary

Bactrian Camels

Bamburgh Castle

Camelopardalis

Dr. Robinson on Camel

The International Camellia Society (ICS)

  The Junior  Ganymede Club Book

The Tower of London

Woburn Abbey 

A series of impressive water conservation adaptations makes it possible for some camels, Camelus dromedarius, to go for a long time without drinking. Body temperature, for example, can rise by 6 to 8° C (11 to 14.5° F) to minimize sweating. Pouches in the stomach store water, releasing it as the camel needs it. A thirsty camel can consume as much as 120 litres (25 gallons) of water to replenish its reserves.

David Curl/Oxford Scientific Films/Library of Natural Sounds, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. All rights reserved.

Penguin

Penguin Classics

Talking Heads

The Penguin Page

Mongolian Gerbil

Because gerbils have proportionally more surface area than volume, water evaporates from their bodies very quickly. They cannot stay outside for more than a few hours of daylight in their warm, arid habitats or they suffer from dehydration. Instead, most gerbils are active at night, collecting dry seeds when they are soaked with dew. Adaptations such as a large middle ear, capable of detecting low-frequency sound like the flapping of an owl’s wings, help protect gerbils from nocturnal predators. The Mongolian gerbil is Meriones unguiculatus.

Dorling Kindersley

Creosote Bush

The creosote bush is native to arid regions of the southwestern United States and South America. These plants exhibit an interesting type of growth in which the crown of an individual plant splits into large lobes, each of which then bends back into the soil and develops its own roots and branches. One particular cluster in the Mojave Desert is estimated to be approximately 11,700 years old.

Jerry L. Ferrara/Photo Researchers, Inc.

Dessert-dwelling Fennec Fox

The desert-dwelling fennec has the largest ears of any fox, in proportion to its body size. It uses its ears to cool itself and to detect the sounds of predators and prey.

Dorling Kindersley

Gila Monster

Gila Monster

The Gila monster, one of only two venomous lizards in the world, is found in desert regions of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico. The venom glands are located in the lower jaw, and venom is injected through the teeth of the lower jaw in such a manner that the Gila monster must chew in order to poison its prey.

Dorling Kindersley

Black-Backed Jackal Scavenging

A black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) flees with a piece of scavenged meat, in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Although jackals do hunt small prey, they also scavenge from the kills of larger predators, either stealing morsels when they can, or waiting to feed once the predator has left.

Peter Johnson/Corbis

Jackal

Jackals form remarkably long-lasting pair bonds. Males enforce this monogamy by chasing off any suitors whose presence threatens the survival of their progeny. A jackal pair raises a litter together but may be away from their den as much as 40 per cent of the time obtaining food, which they regurgitate for the young. A pup from a previous litter may remain with the family as a helper and protector. Pictured here is the golden jackal, Canis aureus.

Jerry Young/Dorling Kindersley

Succulent

The Cactus and Succulent Plant Mall

The thick fleshy leaves or stems of succulent plants, native to marshes and semidesert conditions, swell in damp conditions to store as much fresh water as possible. Adaptations such as the white coloration and waxy, water-sealing coating of some succulents reduce evaporation. The plants wrinkle as water is used up.

Dorling Kindersley

Spurge

Spurges, and many other succulents, have a confusing similarity to cacti, with thick succulent stems and leaves reduced to spines. It is an example of convergent evolution, in which two separate groups of species develop similar adaptations to similar, but geographically distant environments. Whereas cacti complete their development in the arid parts of America, the root-succulent succulents originate mainly from the tropical, arid areas of the African continent.

David Cavagnaro/Peter Arnold, Inc.

Jojoba Plant

The jojoba plant, native to the Sonoran Desert of the United States and Mexico, is grown commercially throughout the world for its seeds, which yield a high-grade oil. Jojoba oil is used in the manufacture of cooking oil, shampoo, and lubricants, as well as in other cosmetic and industrial applications.

Charlie Ott/Photo Researchers, Inc.

Monitor (Lizard)

Dragon Doing

The monitor, known in Australia as the goanna, is the largest of the living lizards. Possessing a long, forked tongue and powerful jaws that can unhinge in order to swallow large prey, the monitor eats a wide variety of foods, including carrion, birds, insects, reptiles, snakes, and eggs. The monitor is primarily terrestrial, although it does have the ability to swim and climb trees.

Jerry Young/Dorling Kindersley