Life In The Hot Sahara Desert

The Sahara Desert is the world's largest hotbroad leaves are replaced with spines, and thick
desert and is spread across 8.6 million squaregreen stems in desert plants like cactus where
kilometers in Northern Africa. The average yearthe spines help in preventing excessive water loss
round temperature in Sahara exceeds 30°Cwhile the stem performs photosynthesis as well
with the temperatures rising above 50 degreeas holds water for a very long time. Xerophytes,
centigrade during summers and the wintergrasses, shrubs, and trees comprise the common
temperatures falling below freezing point. With thevegetation in the Sahara desert.
daily temperature variation fluctuating anywhereDesert animals rarely come out in the hot sun and
between the values -0.5 to 37.5 degreeinstead stay underground during most part of the
centigrade, the conditions are really harsh andday and eat such foods which contain a lot of
difficult to sustain life and this condition is furtherwater content. The desert animals are also
deteriorated due to the hot, dusty winds. The highsmaller in size which minimizes water loss from
temperatures during summer, scanty rainfall, andtheir bodies. The animal species found in the
freezing winters, along with the severely drySahara include the desert hedgehog, gerbil, jerboa,
weather make Sahara's weather very inhospitable.cape hare, common jackal, dorcas gazelle, oryx,
As a result, plant and animal population is sparse.dama deer, Nubian wild, barbary sheep, anubis
Plants and animals develop certain adaptations inbaboon, spotted hyena, sand fox, Libyan striped
order to adapt to life in the harsh desertweasel, the slender mongoose, rattlesnakes,
conditions.kangaroo rats, kit foxes and numerous species of
Desert plants possess very long roots thatfrogs, toads, crocodiles, lizards, chameleons,
penetrate very deep into the earth, and theirskinks, cobras snails, brine and algae shrimps.