Page 1 - 3.Desert
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SAI International School

                                              Subject- Biology, Class-VII
                                Topic- Weather, Climate and Animal Adaptations
                                                   Subtopic- Desert
                                                     Lesson Notes

               DESERT: The desert are characterised by extremely hot days and extremely cold nights

               ADAPTIVE FEATURES OF ANIMALS LIVING IN DESERT ECOSYSTEM
                   A.  CAMEL
                   •  Long eyelashes keep away sand and protect from
                       the glare of sunlight.                              DO YOU KNOW!
                   •  The hump of the camel has stored fat and helps       Out of a 6 or 7-hour night,
                       it to survive without food and water for several    camels sleep only 1.7 hours on
                       days.                                               average while the rest of the
                   •  Thick and leathery patches on knees prevent          time is spent drowsing,
                       knees from burning when it kneels on hot desert
                                                                           ruminating, or being awake
                       sand.
                   •  Broad and padded feet enable the camel to walk comfortably on sand.
                   •  Camels can close their nostrils to keep away the blowing sand.
                   •   They have long and strong legs that keep their body away from the hot sand.

                   B.  KANGAROO RATS
                   •  They are nocturnal creatures. During the
                       day, they hide in their burrows as day     DO YOU KNOW!
                       time is extremely hot and come out only    Kangaroo rats have pouches, on the
                       during the night when it is cooler.
                                                                  outside of their cheeks and are used for
                   •  They don’t drink water as their need for    carrying seeds back to their burrows.
                       water is fulfilled by seeds that they eat.


                   C.  FENNEC FOX-                              DO YOU KNOW!
                   •  They have very large ears.                Fennec foxes communicate with a high-
                   •  The air blowing across the large ears     pitched yelp low quiet growl
                       helps in cooling the body.
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