What is a desert habitat?

Desert habitats

Image caption,
A camel standing in the desert.

Desert habitats cover around one third (33%) of the Earth's surface.

Deserts are an area of land where it hardly ever rains. Some can be dry and very hot, but some can be very cold.

The Sahara desert is extremely hot during the day and cold at night but others, like the Gobi desert, can be a lot colder.

A hot desert is often covered in sand and the plants and animals that live there are adapted to live in very hot and dry conditions.

Animals don't choose their habitat because they are suited to it. Their adaptations (the features that make them suited to their environment) happen randomly. If these adaptations help an animal to survive then they are passed on to its children. This is called evolution.

Watch: What lives in a desert habitat?

Deserts can be arid, semi-arid, coastal and cold.

The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert, covering almost 8% of the Earth.

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Discover what animals and plants are found in a desert habitat.

Discover fascinating desert facts

Deserts receive less than 5% of the Earth's annual rainfall.
Desertification happens when fertile land turns into desert.
Cacti have thick, waxy skin to trap water within the plant.
Camels store fat within their hump, not water, which helps them to survive when food is scarce.
There is a desert on every continent in the world.
Joshua trees grow in the deserts of USA and Mexico. They often live to between 150 and 300 but can sometimes live up to 1000 years!

What is a desert habitat like?

Deserts are extremely hot places and the hottest deserts are located near the equator. The temperature can get so hot during the day that many creatures hide underground in the hottest part of the day. At night the temperature drops because the sun is no longer heating up the ground and it gets very cold.

Deserts are very large, open and empty places with hardly any buildings because conditions make it difficult for humans to live there.

If you stood in a desert, you would be able to see a very long way into the distance because there aren't many plants. The plants that do live in deserts have adaptations to survive in the hot and dry climate.

Desert habitats receive hardly any rain at all so they are very dry places. This means there aren't any rivers or ponds or even puddles. Because the air is so dry, when it rains lightly, sometimes the water doesn't even manage to reach the ground.

Deserts can be very windy places because there are very few plants or structures to block the wind when it blows. The wind moves the sand which causes wave like patterns on the ground. Sometimes the wind can be so strong it may cause sandstorms, where large amounts of sand is picked up, lifted high into the air and carried a very long way.

What animals live in a desert?

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Scorpions
Scorpions have eight legs, with two large pincers at the front of their body and a large curved tail at the back that they use to sting. They have a hard covering all over their body called an exoskeleton which is usually brown colour in the desert to help them blend in. They hide in caves during the day to keep cool and use their pincers to catch insects to eat. Some scorpions can live for up to a year without eating!
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A sidewinder rattlesnake
The sidewinder rattlesnake gets its name from the rattle at the end of its tail that it shakes when it feels threatened, to scare away predators. It is called a sidewinder because it moves sideways instead of forwards. It is a sandy colour with brown spots which helps it to be camouflage itself in the sand.
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Geckos
The western banded gecko lives in the deserts of North America. They hide in gaps in rocks and come out at night to hunt for insects to eat. It is small and brown with pale stripes and has really big eyes that is licks to keep moist, as it doesn't have any eyelids!
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Meerkats
Meerkats are small, furry animals that are found in Sothern Africa. They live in burrows under the sand, in large groups called ‘mobs’. They have brown fur with dark patches around their eyes that act a bit like sunglasses to protect their eyes from the sun. Meerkats use their good sense of smell to sniff out insects to eat as well as scorpions, eggs and fruit.
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Fennec fox
A fennec fox is a small mammal that has sandy coloured fur, four legs and large pointy ears. It digs and stays in a burrow during the day to help it keep cool, and comes out at night to hunt for insects and small lizards to eat. The fox’s large pointy ears also help it to keep cool, and it has thick fur on its paws to protect them from the hot ground.
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Camels
A camel is a large four-legged mammal that is able to live in the desert because it is able to store fat in its hump which means that it doesn't need to drink water or eat for a week! Camels are a sandy colour which helps to reflect the heat, and they are able to eat the thorny plants and grasses that live in the desert.

An illustration of an Aardvark — Image caption,
An aardvark

Did you know?

Aardvarks are a species of mammal that live under the ground in burrows.

They live in hot dry places like the Kalahari desert in Africa.

Aardvarks are nocturnal, meaning they come out to feed at night. They use their long snouts to sniff out food, such as ants and termites.

What plants live in the desert?

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Prickly pear cactus
The prickly pear cactus is made up of lots of round leaf-type pads joined together like branches. The round leaves are thick, green and covered in sharp spines. It produces flowers that can be pink or yellow. The prickly pear survives in the desert because it can store water in its thick leaves. Its roots don't grow very deep into the ground, so that it can reach even the smallest amount of rain that falls.
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Saguaro cactus
A saguaro cactus can grow very thick and tall (up to 15 metres high) and is covered in thick, sharp spines. They grow white flowers and sometimes, if they are old enough, will grow fruit. A saguaro cactus is able to live in the desert because it can store water.
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Russian thistle
Russian thistle is also known as tumbleweed and can often be seen rolling through the desert when it is very windy. The plant is made up of lots of little tubes which dry out in winter and are then blown about in a ball shape, spreading its seeds as it goes.
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Acacia tree
The acacia tree has a brown trunk and branches and grows bunches of small green leave. They also grow long thin spikes on the branches to protect their leaves from being eaten. Despite this, some animals such as camels still like to eat them! Acacia trees are able to survive in the desert by having roots that spread out wide under the tree in search of water.
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Desert grass
Desert grass is a very pale green and grows in big clumps. The blades of grass grow tall and thin and have long thick roots that grow deep underground to help the plant find water.