Biome Animal Project

Rory Donald G/2

Locations-The large majority of deserts lie on the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

In addition Most large deserts are found away from the coasts, in areas where moisture from the oceans rarely reaches. Most deserts lie between 15° and 35° north and south of the equator. The largest hot desert on Earth is the Sahara Desert.The Sahara Desert is located in northern Africa, spanning 12 different countries.

Description- The Desert is the worlds hottest biome (Johansson, 25). Only about 10% of all

deserts are made up of sand. Most of them are rocky places that consist of gravel and larger stones. In

summer, temperatures may reach up to 55°C during the daytime , but at night they drop below 0° C.

Most deserts get very little rainfall— on average , not more than 20 cm a year.

Desert:

Blue line= Temperature Per Month

Red Bars= Rainfall Per Month

Annual Rainfall and Temperature

Animals-● Black Widow● Banded Gila Monster● Meerkat● Desert Toad● Coyote● Camel● Ostrich● Desert Tortoise● Javelina● Jack Rabbits● Sonoran Desert Toad● Sonoran Pronghorn Antelope● Thorny Devil

Animals and Plants in the Desert

Plants-● Saguaro Cactus● Brittle Bush● Chainfruit Cholla● Pancake Prickly Pear Cactus● Crimson Hedgehog Cactus● Desert Ironwood● Joshua Tree● Jumping Cholla● Mojave Aster● Ocotillo

(Barrel Cactus)

(Camel)

● Platypuses hunt underwater, they swim by paddling with their front webbed feet and steering with their hind feet and beaver like tail.

● These Australian mammals are bottom feeders. They scoop up insects and larvae, shellfish, and worms in their bill.

● Platypus reproduction is nearly unique. It is one of only two mammals (the echidna is the other) that lay eggs.

● The Platypus also has an interesting adaptation for protection, it has sharp stingers on the heels of their rear feet and can use them to deliver a strong toxic blow to any foe. Only males have this protective adaptation.

Duck-Billed Platypus

Normal:

They scoop up insects and larvae, shellfish, and worms in their bill along with bits of gravel and mud from the bottom. All this material is stored in cheek pouches and, at the surface, mashed for consumption. Platypuses do not have teeth, so the bits of gravel help them to "chew" their meal.

Platypus - FeedingAdapted:

● In order for the Platypus to survive in the harsh desert biome it would need a longer, narrower bill to pick out beatles and other insects from their burrows in the ground.

● Improved physiological and biological mechanisms of conserving water and tolerating dehydration much like camels do.

(Long beak for Insects)

Normal:Since the Platypus is a vertebrae it has the same respiration system as us humans. It go’s through the same pattern too. Starting with oxygen being transported down the Trachea, into the Bronchus/Bronchioles, Lungs and lastly the Alveoli.

Platypus- RespirationAdapted:

● Due to the vast expanse of a Desert the Platypus’s lungs will be adapted to have a much larger Alveoli sacs in order to provide the body with more oxygen rich blood to improve the distance the platypus can walk per day.

● Improved Anaerobic Respiration so the Platypus can flee from potential predators for longer distances without a lactic acid build up.

Normal:The male Platypus have a protective response when it comes to predators because they have sharp stingers on the heels of their rear feet and can use them to deliver a strong toxic blow to any foe.

Platypus- ResponseAdapted:

● The male Platypus will have a far more potent toxin within the stingers, the poison will cause temporary paralysis to the predator chasing the platypus. This adaptation will help the Platypus escape while the victim of the poison is paralyzed temporarily.

● The male Platypus’s sharp stingers on their heels shall be more sharper in order to scare away predators so they don't want to eat them.

● The female and male platypus’s eyesight response to movement on the desert ground will be vastly improved so they can see small digestible insects suitable for their diet.

Normal:The legs of the platypus are short and each foot has five clawed digits. There is webbing on the front feet making them ideally suitable for swimming. The hind feet, which are only partially webbed, act as steering rudders. When out of the water and moving around the webbing is folded under the animal's feet, in order to prevent damage occurring and to uncover broad nails, which are ideally suited for digging.

Platypus- Move & SupportAdapted:

● The Platypus’s soft webbed feet will become adapted to the Desert terrain causing its webbed feet to take a flat, grippy, thick skinned underfoot allowing it to traverse the rough rocky, sandy deserts.

● The 5 clawed digits will become stronger lessening the chances of damage to the uncover broad nails. Also will improve digging and grip into ground as the Platypus walks.

● Platypus legs will become longer and thicker to help the Platypus look larger to predators and leg muscles will improve movement.

The Margiloper is a domestic 2 legged relative of the camel that mainly resides in semi arid areas where desert shrubbery is in abundance. It is also a marsupial where it has a pouch to hold its young on its underbelly.The Margiloper Is mostly non violent, however the Margiloper will result to violence if its offspring is endangered.

The Margiloper

Normal:The Margiloper’s favorite meal is the prickly pear cactus because of its moisture and nutritious center. The Margiloper also enjoys to eat desert shrubs and assorted fruits.

The Margiloper- FeedingAdapted:

● The Margiloper has adapted to the harsh desert by having an increased stomach capacity which allows more storage of water and food.

● The Margiloper has adapted to long days without food by forming a larger underbelly which serves as storage of fat which is slowly burned off as it traverses the vast desert.

● Large Teeth have been adapted to aid in the mechanical digestion of large amounts of herbivorous food.

Normal:The Margiloper has a typical respiration system of a mammal. It has the same respiratory organs such as the Lungs,Bronchus/Bronchioles, etc. However The Margiloper suffers from narrow Bronchial Tubes so it has a constant problem of getting oxygen to the lungs during anaerobic respiration.

The Margiloper- RespirationAdapted:

● Since the Margiloper has narrow Bronchial tubes it has adapted to running long distances in short amounts of time causing the bronchial tubes to expand allowing oxygen to get to the lungs at a faster rate.

Normal: The Margilopers has very poor hearing and eyesight. The Margilopers also have very little fur to help portect them from the cold desert nights, however their fat helps to keep them warm where fur lacks. The Margiloper whenever it feels threatened releases a mucus spit ball at its threat in order to show its dominance.

The Margiloper- ResponseAdapted:

● The Margiloper has adapted to the Desert nights causing its eyesight and hearing to be very acute allowing it to hear/see potential predators.

● The Margiloper has adapted to the cold desert nights by growing out its fur allowing warmth.

● The Margiloper has adapted its mucus spit where it has a sodium build up causing extreme irritation to the eyes if contacted with them. This scares off potential threats by burning their eyes with the sodium.

Normal:The Margiloper has 2 hind legs and no frontal legs this allows fast travel across the desert. The Margiloper has a hoof type foot much like a horse so it can withstand rough terrain. The Magiloper also has a long narrow neck to aid in digestion. The Margiloper has a slender horizontal back so it makes it more aerodynamic while running.

The Margiloper- Move & Support

Adapted:● The Margilopers 2 hind legs have

been adapted to become longer to increase stride length to help cover more distance.

● The Margilopers neck has been adapted to increase in width along with the trachea to help the Margiloper drink water at a faster rate.

● The Margilopers back has adapted to form a dip in the vertebrae where riders may sit upon them for travel.

Desert Food Web:

10 Biome Facts:1. The large majority of deserts lie on the

Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

2. Most large deserts are found away from the coasts.

3. Only about 10% of all deserts are made up of sand.

4. In summer, temperatures may reach up to 55°C during the daytime

5. At night Deserts drop below 0° C. 6. Very little rainfall— on average , not more

than 20 cm a year.7. Most deserts lie between 15° and 35°

north and south of the equator.8. The Desert is the worlds hottest biome.9. The Sahara Desert is located in northern

Africa, spanning 12 different countries.10. The largest hot desert on Earth is the

Sahara Desert.

Conclusion:10 Assigned Animal Adaptations:

1. Longer, narrower bill to pick out beatles and other insects from their burrows in the ground.

2. Improved physiological and biological mechanisms of conserving water and tolerating dehydration.

3. Larger Alveoli sacs in order to provide the body with more oxygen rich blood.

4. Improved Anaerobic Respiration to stall lactic acid build up.

5. Male Platypus has a far more potent toxin within the stingers, causes paralysation.

6. Male Platypus’s sharp stingers on their heels more sharper in order to scare away predators.

7. The female and male platypus’s eyesight response to movement on the desert ground will be vastly improved.

8. The Platypus’s soft webbed feet will become adapted to the Desert terrain causing its webbed feet to take a flat, grippy, thick skinned underfoot.

9. The 5 clawed digits will become stronger lessening the chances of damage to the uncover broad nails.

10. Platypus legs will become longer and thicker to help the Platypus look larger to predators and leg muscles will improve movement.

10 facts about New Animal1. Increased stomach capacity which

allows more storage of water and food.

2. Has an Underbelly which serves as storage of fat which is slowly burned off for energy.

3. Has expanded Bronchial tubes which allow oxygen to get to the lungs at a faster rate.

4. The Margiloper has adapted to the Desert nights causing its eyesight and hearing to be very acute

5. The Margiloper has adapted to the cold desert nights by growing out its fur allowing warmth.

6. Has mucus spit which has a high sodium count which causes extreme irritation to the eyes. (self defense mechanism)

7. Has 2 long hind legs, has a large stride which helps cover more distance.

8. The Margiloper has a wide neck/trachea which aids in drinking vast amounts of water in a short time frame.

9. The Margilopers back has adapted to form a dip in the vertebrae where riders may sit upon them for travel.

10. Large Teeth aid in mechanical digestion of large amounts of herbivorous food.

Conclusion Contd.3 Inferences:1. I think my animals will fit into the desert food chain because they have all the necessary adaptations to survive in a desert biome. A desert that would suit these 2 animals best would most likely be the mojave desert.

2. I believe the new adaptations that have taken place for the Platypus and Markiloper will aid in their survival because their adaptations focus mainly over hydration which is the key factor of survival in a desert biome.

3. I think based off of the new adaptations they will most likely survive because they both have defense responses, adequate hydration and movement for the desert.

Markiloper and Platypus in Desert

Hypothesis:I believe that an animal would adapt to the biome because of the terrain, food, predators, climate, etc the biome has, meaning the animal would have to adapt to survive.

Controls:The natural adaptations of the Platypus are examples of controls because they were used as an comparison to the Independent variable that being the adaptations I gave to the Platypus.

Independent Variables: The Independent variables In my presentation was the Adaptations of the Platypus because I could choose whatever adaptation i wanted which reflected the control group which i could not change because they were the natural adaptations of the animal.

Hypothesis, Controls & Independant Variable

Websites:- www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert.htm- http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/platypus/

Books:- Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, Devra G. Kleiman, edition 12, 243-248 pg.- The Dry Desert A Web of Life, Phillip Johansson, Chapter 3, pg 25-29 pg.

Text:“The desert is the worlds hottest biome” (Johansson, 25)

List Of Sources: