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Very often, when people think of mammals in desert, they usually think of camels only. In
fact, almost all of the mammalian orders have their representatives in the deserts.  To avoid the heat, some small
mammals live in shelters underground, where the temperature fluctuations are not as much
as those on the surface. Most important of all, the maximum temperature in burrows is much
lower than that on the surface. They usually come out at night to search for food and
store the food in burrows.
The Kangaroo Rat 
Large mammals, like gazelles,
onyx, asses and camels, find their shelters in the shade of a rock or tree. As the
excessive heat may kill them, some of them lose heat by evaporation, which can only
increase the staying power by 2-3oC. Of course, water must be available for
sweating. They get water from waterholes and by eating plants and preys. The Mountain Lion |
 
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The small mammals have greater
surface area to weight ratio. They gain and lose heat quickly and thus face greater
problems in maintaining an acceptable body temperature range. Any animal living in desert
has to have a gut that is able to excrete almost dry faecal material and a kidney that
draws minimum water from blood. There are "summer hibernates" that minimize
their metabolic rates in summer to avoid water lost through respiration.
The Jack Rabbit