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
you may also like
Recently, staff at the Qingxin Baiwan Provincial Nature Reserve in Guangdong discovered the "fairy among birds" for the first time while sorting out infrared camera data. The Fairy Thrush is named after its eight colors of feathers, including chestnut head, light yellow e...
1. Rhinoceros The biggest threat to rhinos is humans. Mainly because rhino horns are made into traditional medicine. In fact, rhino horns have the same structure as fingernails. Many poachers will do anything for profit, and the number of rhinos has dropped sharply. Currently, there are more than 25,000 rhinos living in the wild in Africa and Asia around the world, and more than 2,000 are bred in zoos. Of the five existing species of rhino, two are on the verge of extinction and the remaining th...
Invertebrates are a relatively low-level group of animals, which correspond to vertebrates. The most obvious feature is that they do not have vertebrae. Invertebrates are very large in both type and quantity. From the perspective of living environment, they can be found in oceans, rivers, lak...
Domestic chicken (scientific name: Gallus gallus domesticus) is a poultry domesticated from the red jungle fowl and is one of the most common domestic animals in the world. Due to long-term selective breeding, today's domestic chickens have great diversity in body shape, feather color, egg-la...
Squirrels are a widely distributed rodent that belongs to the family Sciuridae and includes about 280 species distributed all over the world. Here are details about squirrels and their living habits: Appearance features Body shape: Medium in size, usually 15-20...
There is growing evidence that octopuses and other similar creatures are sentient. Heather Browning, a postdoctoral fellow in animal perception and welfare at the London School of Economics, noted in an article that “octopus minds may be very different from human minds, but only by trying to...
Cats are one of the most popular internet celebrity animals on Western social networking sites, and they are also pets that many people are keen to keep. They are well-behaved elves, fickle and curious. They are cute, independent and cool. These are one of the reasons why people love cats. Bu...
The remains of an ichthyosaur discovered in Svalbard offer new insights into the evolution of ancient marine reptiles. New research suggests that ichthyosaurs may have predated the dinosaurs after experiencing the largest mass extinction event on Earth. The earliest ichth...
Email: jsset#163.com (change # to @) Please indicate your purpose of visit! Guangdong ICP No. 2022053326 XML| map| Chinese
