8 animals that live in extreme environments

Earth is a planet full of extreme environments, from mind-numbing cold to sweltering heat. With few exceptions, humans live primarily in temperate regions, but a variety of other creatures thrive in inhospitable environments. These organisms are called extremophiles. Here are some examples.

1. Emperor Penguin

Emperor penguins in Antarctica (Arctic animals; Arctic birds; penguins)

These hardy flightless birds spend their mating season in Antarctica, where temperatures often drop to −40°F (−40°C). Bee colonies survive this life-threatening cold by gathering into a large colony to share warmth and minimize individual exposure to the elements. Every once in a while, penguins on the outer edges of the colony are brought to the center so that each member has a chance to warm up.

2. Wood frog

When temperatures get colder, wood frogs adapt by freezing themselves, maintaining this unique form of suspended animation until the spring thaw. It can survive freezing by accumulating glucose, a cryoprotectant, in its tissues.

3. Flat bark beetle

Like wood frogs, flat bark beetles produce special chemicals to protect themselves from the winter cold. It reduces the amount of water in the body while accumulating tissue-protecting proteins, allowing it to survive nature's attacks.

4. Camel

Arabian camel or dromedary and calf, Oman; mammals. Arabian camel.

Known as the "Ship of the Desert," camels can survive temperatures as high as 120°F (49°C) and can go without water for a week or more.

5. Sahara desert ants

The tiny insect's secret to surviving in desert environments, where temperatures can exceed 140 °F (60 °C), is its long legs, which allow it to move quickly and keep its body above the scorching sand.

6. Jerboa

Jerboas are small, long-tailed rodents with very long hind legs.

This desert-dwelling rodent has a simple way of surviving the heat: sleep in cool burrows during the day and come out in search of food at night when the weather is cooler.

7. Pompeii Worm

Deep far from the ocean's surface, far from the life-giving sun, unique ecosystems form around extremely hot, mineral-rich hydrothermal vents that form near undersea volcanoes. Researchers discovered a virtual zoo around the vent, including Pompeii worms, which can survive temperatures as high as 175°F (79°C).

8. Tardigrade

Tardigrades are also known as water bears. Scanning electron micrographs of invertebrates

Scanning electron micrograph of a tardigrade or tardigrade. Tardigrades are invertebrates belonging to the phylum Tardigrada.

These amazing microorganisms have yet to find an environment in which they cannot survive. Also known as tardigrades, these strange eight-legged creatures are found in deserts, glaciers, hot springs and on top of the world's tallest mountains. There might even be tardigrades on the moon, thanks to the emergency landing of an Israeli lunar probe that had a tardigrade as one of its payloads. In extremely harsh conditions, tardigrades survive by falling into a desiccated death state called cryptobiosis. They can remain in this state for decades and still return to active life after exposure to water.

animal tags： tardigrade