This week, we have…

• A fun fact inspired by a recent Metazooa answer

• Trivia!

• Answers to last week's games

• Reader survey

How to survive the desert like a gazelle

Wandering through a desert without a source of water sounds like a nightmare to some, but many animals have evolved incredible adaptations to survive in extreme conditions. Gazelles (Metazooa answer #433) are one such example, with the remarkable ability to shrink their vital organs in order to reduce evaporative water loss. One study conducted by the National Wildlife Research Center in Saudi Arabia found that gazelles in drought conditions will shrink their liver and heart, two organs that require a lot of oxygen, to reduce water lost to respiratory evaporation (i.e. breathing). Those gazelles also lost a third less water compared to the control group, which were given unlimited water and food. 

In addition to shrinking organs, gazelles have evolved other adaptations such as being able to extract water from food they consume, such as plants and flowers, without needing to drink water for long stretches of time. They feed late at night and early in the morning when plants contain the most dew and moisture, and have large salivary glands to provide moisture to make up for the dry foods they often have to eat throughout the day. Gazelles will even time their mating season so that their offspring are born in the rainy season, when there is plenty to drink.

Generally, it’s said that humans can survive three days without water. Gazelles can survive triple that, with studies reporting that gazelles survived 10 days of dehydration. And they aren’t the only animal that has evolved to survive the desert. Camels store water in their humps to last long periods between rehydrating, and coyote fur has been adapted for ideal temperature regulation during hot days and cold nights. Horned lizards can even capture dew on their skin and consume it like drinking water!  

Learn more

https://www.science.org/content/article/gazelles-get-shrinking-feeling
https://www.britannica.com/animal/gazelle
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0300962988911073

Trivia!

Answers to last week's games

Monday, September 30 to Sunday, October 6.

Linxicon

The following are the shortest paths from last week:

• #231 communicate -> talk -> change -> turn -> bend

• #232 dad -> cousin -> related -> moreover

• #233 painting -> renovation -> improvement -> advantage

• #234 foreign -> holiday -> rest -> relax

• #235 online -> website -> data -> statistics

• #236 increase -> increasing -> approaching -> entrance -> scene

• #237 justify -> sustain -> environment -> climate -> spring

• #238 Play now!

Forgeous

Play Forgeous