Mammals of the Desert

1
Mammals of the Desert

• By Elizabeth Shaw

2
Vocabulary to Recognize

• Invertebrate
• Rodents
• Nocturnal
• Evaporation
• Solitary
• Territorial

3
Mammal characteristics

• Warm Blooded with fur or hair
• Most young are born alive and drink milk as
  babies
• Invertebrate
• Have lungs to breath

4
Small Mammals of the Desert

• Most smaller mammals use burrows to stay out of
  the heat.
• Smaller mammals gain and lose heat quickly and
  have problems maintaining an acceptable body
  temperature range.
• Kangaroo Rat, Gray Fox, Prairie Dogs, and Jack
  Rabbits

5
Kangaroo Rat

• Seed eating rodents
• Can convert the dry seeds they eat into water
• Kangaroo Rats neither sweat nor pant like other
  animals to keep cool
• They hop on their hind feet, using their tails
  for balance

6
Gray Fox

• Only member of the dog family that can climb
  trees
• Can reach 28 mph in short distances
• Smaller than a coyote. Around 7-11 pounds
• Primarily nocturnal

7
Jack Rabbits

• Black-Tailed Jack Rabbit Live in valleys and
  flat, open country
• White-Tailed Jack Rabbit lives in the hills and
  mountains
• Their ears are long and brown with black tips

8
Large Desert Mammals

• Find shelter in the shade of a rock or tree
• Some may lose heat by evaporation
• They get water from waterholes and by eating
  plants and prey
• Wild Burro and Mountain Lion

9
Wild Burro

• They are sure-footed and can locate food in
  barren terrain
• Wild Burros can tolerate a water loss as much as
  30 of their body weight
• Wild Burros feed on a variety of plants,
  including grasses, Mormon Tea, Palo Verde and
  Plantain

10
Mountain Lion

• Live in many different types of habitats, from
  deserts to humid coast range forest
• Also known as the cougar
• Adult males may be more than 8 feet long from
  nose to end of tail
• Mountain Lions are solitary, strongly territorial
  hunters who may be active during the day.

F\PUBLIC_HTML\index.html
Mammals of the Desert