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A xerocole (from Greek xēros / ˈ z ɪ r oʊ s / 'dry' and Latin col(ere) 'to inhabit'), [2] [3] [4] is a general term referring to any animal that is adapted to live in a desert. The main challenges xerocoles must overcome are lack of water and excessive heat. To conserve water they avoid evaporation and concentrate excretions (i.e. urine and ...
These shrubs have the additional property of being palatable to grazing animals such as sheep and camels. H. scoparium is under protection in China due to it being a major endangered species. [6] Haloxylon ammodendron and Zygophyllum xanthoxylum are also plants that form fixed dunes. [21] A more well-known xerophyte is the succulent plant Agave ...
The presence of burrowing animals also has a direct impact on the soil's composition, structure, and growing vegetation. The impact these animals have can range from feeding, harvesting, caching and soil disturbances, but can differ considering the large diversity of fossorial species – especially herbivorous species.
The larval stage of insect development is considered by some to be a form of altricial development, but it more accurately depicts, especially amongst eusocial animals, an independent phase of development, as the larvae of bees, ants, and many arachnids are completely physically different from their developed forms, and the pre-pupal stages of ...
Animals adapted to live in deserts are called xerocoles. There is no evidence that body temperature of mammals and birds is adaptive to the different climates, either of great heat or cold. In fact, with a very few exceptions, their basal metabolic rate is determined by body size, irrespective of the climate in which they live. [80]
Feral animals compete with domestic livestock, and may degrade fences, water sources, and vegetation (by overgrazing or introducing seeds of invasive plants). Although hotly disputed, some cite as an example the competition between feral horses and cattle in the western United States.
Animals in captivity may be fed browse as a replacement for their wild food sources; in the case of pandas, the browse may consist of bunches of banana leaves, bamboo shoots, slender pine, spruce, fir and willow branches, straw and native grasses. [5] If the population of browsers grows too high, all of the browse that they can reach may be ...
Microfauna (from Ancient Greek mikros 'small' and from Latin fauna 'animal') are microscopic animals and organisms that exhibit animal-like qualities and have body sizes that are usually <0.1mm. [1] [2] Microfauna are represented in the animal kingdom (e.g. nematodes, small arthropods) and the protist kingdom (i.e. protozoans). A large amount ...