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The fennec fox's large ears help keep it cool: when the blood vessels dilate, blood from the body cycles in and dissipates over the expanded surface area. [1]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 divergence between oviparous (egg-laying) and viviparous (offspring develop internally) mammals is believed to date to the Triassic period. [32] Most findings from genetics studies (especially of nuclear genes) are in agreement with the paleontological dating, but some other evidence, like mitochondrial DNA, give slightly different dates.
Most dasyurids are roughly the size of mice, but a few species are much larger. The smallest species is the Pilbara ningaui, which is from 4.6 to 5.7 cm (1.8 to 2.2 in) in length, and weighs just 2 to 9 g (0.07 to 0.3 oz), while the largest, the Tasmanian devil, is 57 to 65 cm (22 to 26 in) long, and weighs from 6 to 8 kg (13 to 18 lb).
The female desert hedgehog gives birth to up to six young, in a burrow or concealed nest, after a gestation period of around 30 to 40 days. The young are born deaf and blind, and with the quills located just under the skin, to prevent damage to the female during birth. The quills emerge within a few hours, and the eyes open after around 21 days.
The eyes are small, about 9 mm (0.4 in) in diameter and at the base of the wedge-shaped snout. [26] The nostrils and the mouth are at the distal end of the snout; [25] the mouth cannot open wider than 5 mm (0.2 in). [27] The body of the short-beaked echidna is, with the exception of the underside, face and legs, covered with cream-coloured spines.
They are blind, subterranean small mammals [5] with small ears, tails and eyes that are all covered by skin and fur. They have unique cranial and nasal morphology. [5] On their nose is a large leathery pad to help them burrow. They have powerful forearms and claws, but use mainly their snout to burrow.
Pikas are small mammals, with short limbs and rounded ears. They are about 15 to 23 cm (5.9 to 9.1 in) in body length and weigh between 120 and 350 g (4.2 and 12.3 oz), depending on species. These animals are herbivores and feed on a wide variety of plant matter, including forbs , grasses , sedges , shrub twigs, moss and lichens.
However, phylogenetic analysis split all three as distinct families, leaving just the jerboas in Dipodidae and revealing them to be a monophyletic group. This animal has a body length (including the head) of between 4 and 26 cm (1.6 to 10 in.), with an additional 7 – 30 cm (2.75 to 12 in.) of tail, which is always longer than the full body.