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As a forbidden area of human life, no one wants to risk going to the Sahara Desert to challenge the limits of life, and the Sahara Desert currently covers an area of about 9 million square kilometers, which is no exaggeration to say that this is equivalent to the size of an American.
There are extreme climatic conditions here, such as the daytime temperature may reach 50 degrees Celsius, the night temperature may drop below 0 degrees Celsius, and interestingly, in this harsh environment, there are still about 1200 kinds of plants living in the Sahara Desert.
At the same time, there are still many animals living a comfortable and comfortable life here, and they can even reproduce here.
But judging from the dinosaurs and duck dragon fossils that scientists have found here, the animals that choose to inhabit the Sahara Desert are destined to be different, and this is often their scary point.
In this issue, we will introduce you to ten mysterious and unsavory animals living in the Sahara Desert.
The first, the deer gazelle, can live a lifetime without drinking water
It is known as the most elegant walker in the desert, only because the hair color of the deer gazelle is extremely beautiful, generally showing reddish-brown or white, coupled with a slim body, it has a high ornamental quality.
One of the most interesting things about this animal is that they can never drink water for a lifetime, which means that some deer gazelles may have never tasted water in their short lives.
Of course, it is still relatively rare to have never tasted water at all, we often joke that fairies drink dew, and deer gazelles must also be related to the gods, and they will also ingest the dew on the plants themselves every day.
This is the only water they taste.
The most characteristic is the life habits of deer gazelles, which are very special when they are most active, often in the early morning and evening, and are different from those animals that have been migrating non-stop all their lives.
The deer gazelle will only live in peace in the barren Sahara Desert for the rest of its life, and thus has evolved a super hardy ability.
As long as there is no attack from predators, they can easily survive in the desert, but nowadays even scientists are difficult to see the beautiful figure of the deer gazelle in the wild.
Because with the gradual destruction of the ecological environment, it has become an endangered animal, according to statistics, there are only about 2,000 deer gazelles left in the world.
Second, the auricular fox – the most perceptive nocturnal hunter in the desert
It is also known to humans as the Desert Fox because it is the smallest canine in the world.
Perhaps just looking at the pictures, everyone will think that this survival master is very cute, with long ears and the smallest size of all fox species in the world, giving people an image of being delicate and weak and bullying.
But don't be fooled by the appearance of the auricular fox, after all, it is an animal that lives in the dangerous Sahara Desert all year round, and if it is not aggressive, then it has long been bullied by other species here.
Therefore, the auricular fox has its own unique ability, such as its ears, which can not only help dissipate heat, but also keenly capture the surrounding movements at the first time, which is more conducive to catching prey.
Its yellow body hair can help it withstand the severe temperature difference between day and night in the desert, and the auricular fox also has a strong ability, that is, extremely powerful night vision ability.
It should be known that many carnivores have evolved to become more adept at preying during the day, but the auricular fox is different, preferring to move in the dark of the night, and often can hit the prey the moment they see it.
This is all thanks to the eyes of the auricular fox, on the retina of both eyes, at least 97% of the photoreceptors, what does this mean? Nature is their keen night vision.
So if an animal angers it at night, don't try to escape the night hunter.
In third place, the Sahara Silver Ant – a daily race against the heat
As the fastest ants in the world, the Sahara Silver Ant has become accustomed to surviving in this extreme environment, and because it is only a small insect, even if it has a fast speed, it will not be able to escape the predators of larger predators.
So the Sahara Silver Ant will always hide in its nest during the day, waiting for most of the predators to enter a rest state, and then quietly go out to forage.
However, when the temperature reaches the top during the day, they will also choose to go out to forage, at this time all predators will find shade to escape the heat, and Sahara termites will seize this time difference and quickly go out to find food.
But in the process, they must race against the clock to complete the task, because once the temperature outside exceeds 53.6 ° C, they will die of heat from the heat.
Therefore, through research, people have found that Saharan termites only squeeze out ten minutes of working time a day to forage, and the rest of the time lies in their nests, which can be described as the world's most enjoyable ant population.
Fourth, the Cape Sahara Viper – the most insidious hunter in the Sahara Desert
Presumably, everyone should have heard of this animal before, as the only snake in the world with a long horn on its head, the Sahara horn viper is undoubtedly the best among hunters.
It is best at burying itself in the yellow sand during the hottest part of the day, sometimes showing half of its head, and then quietly waiting for the "lucky one" who is about to become its prey to appear.
Interestingly, the Sahara Horned Viper seems to be a bit obsessive-compulsive, and if it hadn't completely buried its body in the sand at first, it would have found a new hiding place until it could be completely covered by sand.
Knowing this, if anyone thinks that it looks stupid and not threatening, it is very wrong.
Because of the Sahara Horned Viper's insidious self-concealment method, and its body is only 30-60 cm long on average, it is difficult to find it in the sand, and this horned querce attack is extremely fast, and it may be attacked by it if you are not careful.
If you are not treated in time after being bitten by the Sahara Horn, there is a risk that you will need to amputate your leg, so if someone goes to the Sahara Desert in the future, they must pay attention to their feet.
Fifth, the North African ostrich – the most likely fighting bird to fight with other species
When it comes to birds of prey, many people may first think of eagles, after all, eagles have extremely sharp claws, and their attack power should not be underestimated, but in fact, eagles are not the most ferocious birds.
Now living in harsh environments, they can reach 2.5 meters in height and weigh even 150 kilograms, although most of them are mainly plant foods, but their ferocity is far more than that of eagles, they are North African ostriches.
Because of its well-developed air bags and good circulatory system to regulate body temperature, the North African ostrich is able to adapt to extremely arid climates and has abnormal heat tolerance.
Even when temperatures reach 56°C, they can still find food in the sweltering heat and go months without drinking water.
The ancestors of the African ostrich are said to be a flying bird, but due to the current environmental influences of their lives, today's ostriches have lost the ability to fly.
However, their jumping ability is still very developed, they can vacate more than 2.5 meters, and by relying on the pair of thick legs, the North African ostrich sprints at a speed of more than 70 kilometers per hour.
So how aggressive are they? A group of images of an adult North African ostrich was once filmed wrestling with two cheetahs, but the results surprised everyone.
One cheetah fled in fear, while the other was cut off by the paws of an ostrich, which is simply a species that likes to fight with others.
Their fighting passion is easily aroused, and they are not afraid of any opponent, and it can be seen from here that this African ostrich is of proper fighting ethnic origin.
Sixth, desert dragon - a grumpy brother in the desert
Compared with other lizards in the world, this desert monitor lizard is very large, with a total length of up to 140 centimeters, and its tail occupies more than 2 feet. Its personality is very grumpy and it is easy to attack the outside world.
When threatened, its body and neck will swell at the same time, but also emit a low roar, if you are unlucky to meet this guy, do not act rashly, after all, the desert dragon bite force is very strong.
And the attack speed is very fast, even some poisonous snakes that are proud to move as fast as lightning cannot escape its pursuit.
It is worth mentioning that this desert monitor lizard is cruel to the enemy and even more cruel to himself. When it encounters some kind of danger that is difficult to avoid, it will decisively choose to cut off its tail to save its life.
And this desert monitor lizard, because it is a warming animal, often uses summer sleep to survive the high temperature weather of the Sahara Desert. This is also one of the ways they cope with the harsh environment around them, and it has to be said that such behavior is actually quite witty.
Seventh, the Sahara Cheetah – the most distressed cheetah in the world
For many people, the name of the Saharan cheetah may hardly be heard.
Mainly because this species is very rare and mysterious all over the world, it is reported that there are fewer than 250 adult Saharan cheetahs today, and the natural environment in which they choose to live is extremely harsh, and it is difficult for ordinary people to find their tracks.
However, we can see from the name that the most distributed place for Sahara cheetahs is the Sahara Desert, and unlike cheetahs living in other areas, Saharan cheetahs prefer to come out at night.
After all, the high temperature of the day in this area is not something that any animal can bear.
Although it is difficult to find water in the desert due to such high temperatures, the Saharan cheetah is able to obtain a lot of water from its prey, which makes it especially important for prey.
The pictures of cheetahs we see so far tend to be hungry and thin, thinner than other cheetahs, simply because there are so few prey in the Sahara Desert.
However, people still have not figured out why Saharan cheetahs choose to live in that harsh environment.
Eighth, the Israeli Golden Scorpion – the most dangerous death hunter
Its appearance is generally translucent and yellow, the body length is about 6 cm, but don't look at this golden yellow animal looks beautiful and small, it is the world's first poisonous scorpion.
The reason for its fame is simple, just by virtue of its ferocious habits and highly poisonous tail stings, it has become a frightening existence.
Its range of activities covers the Sahara Desert, the Arabian Desert, the Thar Desert, etc., mainly living in the dry desert areas of the Middle East and North Africa, simply put, where there is a desert, there will be the figure of the Israeli golden scorpion.
Because they are the most dangerous presence in the scorpion species, they have been given the title of death hunters because their venom is an extremely dangerous mixture of neurotoxins that can kill anyone if they are infected a little.
And the pain at the moment of being bitten is almost unbearable for ordinary people, but few people know that its venom can also be used to treat human tumors.
Number nine, the desert crocodile – a mythical reptile
Scientists once ignored the existence of this desert crocodile, believing that it was just a myth, and it was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century that people believed that crocodiles still exist in the desert today.
After tens of thousands of years of evolution, they no longer need to rely entirely on water sources, but the desert crocodiles that live in the Sahara are relatively small and prefer to go out when it rains.
But as human societies evolve, their habitats may become smaller and smaller.
Tenth place, dromedary camel – long-legged Oba in the desert
Unlike other animals, camels are particularly thirst-tolerant and can survive even if they are left in the harshest environment, while dromedary camels get their name from because they have only one hump, but they are taller than bactrian camels and have elongated legs.
This camel is very suitable for tropical desert life, whether it is their body structure, or life habits, as if they were tailored to survive in the desert.
One might wonder why desert areas are dromedary camels.
In fact, dromedary camels are better at running in the desert than Bactrian camels, and their feet are relatively long and their body weight is relatively light, so they are extremely suitable for living in the desert.
There is no doubt that from the above content, it can be seen that these animals in the Sahara Desert are all strong in the natural environment, the weak eat the strong, and the survival of the fittest is the cruel natural survival law applicable to any era.
Of course, in the mysterious Sahara Desert, there may be some species that have not been discovered anywhere on the earth, which requires people to continue to explore and discover in the future.
And for these ten animals that live in the Sahara Desert that are strong enough to survive, who do you think will live longer?