Desert

Deserts receive under 250 mm of rain a year. Their animals are masters of water economy — active at dusk, burrowed by day, and able to go long stretches without drinking.

16 animals in this habitat

Reptiles LC Boa Constrictor Boa constrictor The boa constrictor is a large non-venomous snake of the Americas that kills by cutting off blood flow, not by suffocation, and gives birth to live young. It is a popular but long-lived, powerful pet. Read the guide →

Birds LC Common Raven Corvus corax The common raven is one of the most intelligent animals on Earth — a large black bird that makes tools, plans for the future, holds grudges, plays in the wind, and solves problems that stump apes. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Cougar Puma concolor The cougar goes by more names than any other animal and roams from the Yukon to Patagonia. Learn why it isn't a "big cat", how far it can leap, and why it screams instead of roars. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Coyote Canis latrans The coyote has expanded across North America and into its cities faster than any other large predator, thriving under intense hunting pressure. Learn how it adapts, hunts, and outlasts persecution. Read the guide →

Mammals NE Dromedary Camel Camelus dromedarius The dromedary is the one-humped camel of Arabia and North Africa — a desert specialist that stores fat in its hump, lets its body temperature swing, and can drink 100 litres in minutes. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus The echidna is a spine-covered, egg-laying mammal that has no teeth, senses prey by electric field, and can lower its body temperature almost to freezing. Learn how this ancient oddity survives. Read the guide →

Reptiles NT Gila Monster Heloderma suspectum The Gila monster is one of only a handful of venomous lizards — a slow, beaded, black-and-orange desert reptile that spends 95% of its life underground and inspired a widely used diabetes drug. Read the guide →

Birds LC Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos The golden eagle is one of the largest and most widespread birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere, a mountain hunter that stoops on prey at highway speeds. Learn how it lives and hunts. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Honey Badger Mellivora capensis The honey badger has loose armour-like skin, partial resistance to snake venom, and a documented talent for escaping any enclosure. Learn why it takes on cobras, lions, and beehives. Read the guide →

Reptiles LC Leopard Gecko Eublepharis macularius The leopard gecko is a ground-dwelling desert lizard with movable eyelids, a fat storage tail it can drop and regrow, and a calm nature that made it one of the first domesticated reptiles. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Meerkat Suricata suricatta The meerkat lives in tight cooperative gangs where members take turns standing guard, babysitting, and teaching pups to handle scorpions. Learn how a meerkat mob works and survives the Kalahari. Read the guide →

Birds LC Ostrich Struthio camelus The ostrich is the largest and heaviest bird alive, the fastest thing on two legs, and the layer of the biggest egg of any living animal. Learn how a bird this size survives on the African plains. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Pronghorn Antilocapra americana The pronghorn is the fastest land animal in the Americas and Earth's best distance runner — built to escape a predator that went extinct 12,000 years ago. Learn about its speed and odd horns. Read the guide →

Birds LC Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura The turkey vulture is a wide-ranging American scavenger that finds carcasses by smell — a rare skill among birds — soars for hours without flapping, and defends itself by projectile vomiting. Read the guide →

Mammals LC Red Kangaroo Osphranter rufus The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial alive, built to bounce across Australia's dry interior. Learn how hopping saves energy, how the pouch works, and why females can pause a pregnancy. Read the guide →

Mammals VU Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus The cheetah is the fastest land animal, built entirely for the sprint. Learn how it hits 100 km/h, why the chase costs so much, and why only about 6,500 remain in the wild. Read the guide →