2. Locations-The large majority of deserts lie on the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. In addition
Most large deserts are found away from the coasts, in areas where moisture from the oceans rarely reaches. Most
deserts lie between 15° and 35° north and south of the equator. The largest hot desert on Earth is the Sahara
Desert.The Sahara Desert is located in northern Africa, spanning 12 different countries.
Description- The Desert is the worlds hottest biome (Johansson, 25). Only about 10% of all deserts are
made up of sand. Most of them are rocky places that consist of gravel and larger stones. In summer, temperatures
may reach up to 55°C during the daytime , but at night they drop below 0° C. Most deserts get very little rainfall—
on average , not more than 20 cm a year.
Desert:
3. Blue line= Temperature Per
Month
Red Bars= Rainfall Per Month
Annual Rainfall and Temperature
5. ● Platypuses hunt underwater, they swim by paddling with their
front webbed feet and steering with their hind feet and beaver
like tail.
● These Australian mammals are bottom feeders. They scoop up
insects and larvae, shellfish, and worms in their bill.
● Platypus reproduction is nearly unique. It is one of only two
mammals (the echidna is the other) that lay eggs.
● The Platypus also has an interesting adaptation for protection, it
has sharp stingers on the heels of their rear feet and can use
them to deliver a strong toxic blow to any foe. Only males
have this protective adaptation.
Duck-Billed Platypus
6. Normal:
They scoop up insects and larvae, shellfish, and
worms in their bill along with bits of gravel and mud
from the bottom. All this material is stored in cheek
pouches and, at the surface, mashed for
consumption. Platypuses do not have teeth, so the
bits of gravel help them to "chew" their meal.
Platypus - Feeding
Adapted:
● In order for the Platypus to survive in the harsh
desert biome it would need a longer, narrower
bill to pick out beatles and other insects from
their burrows in the ground.
● Improved physiological and biological
mechanisms of conserving water and tolerating
dehydration much like camels do.
(Long beak for Insects)
7. Normal:
Since the Platypus is a vertebrae it has the same
respiration system as us humans. It go’s through
the same pattern too. Starting with oxygen being
transported down the Trachea, into the
Bronchus/Bronchioles, Lungs and lastly the
Alveoli.
Platypus- Respiration
Adapted:
● Due to the vast expanse of a Desert the Platypus’s
lungs will be adapted to have a much larger Alveoli
sacs in order to provide the body with more oxygen
rich blood to improve the distance the platypus can
walk per day.
● Improved Anaerobic Respiration so the Platypus can
flee from potential predators for longer distances
without a lactic acid build up.
8. Normal:
The male Platypus have a protective response
when it comes to predators because they have
sharp stingers on the heels of their rear feet
and can use them to deliver a strong toxic blow
to any foe.
Platypus- Response
Adapted:
● The male Platypus will have a far more
potent toxin within the stingers, the poison
will cause temporary paralysis to the
predator chasing the platypus. This
adaptation will help the Platypus escape
while the victim of the poison is paralyzed
temporarily.
● The male Platypus’s sharp stingers on their
heels shall be more sharper in order to scare
away predators so they don't want to eat
them.
● The female and male platypus’s eyesight
response to movement on the desert ground
will be vastly improved so they can see
small digestible insects suitable for their
diet.
9. Normal:
The legs of the platypus are short and each foot
has five clawed digits. There is webbing on the
front feet making them ideally suitable for
swimming. The hind feet, which are only partially
webbed, act as steering rudders. When out of
the water and moving around the webbing is
folded under the animal's feet, in order to prevent
damage occurring and to uncover broad nails,
which are ideally suited for digging.
Platypus- Move & Support
Adapted:
● The Platypus’s soft webbed feet will
become adapted to the Desert terrain
causing its webbed feet to take a flat,
grippy, thick skinned underfoot
allowing it to traverse the rough rocky,
sandy deserts.
● The 5 clawed digits will become
stronger lessening the chances of
damage to the uncover broad nails.
Also will improve digging and grip into
ground as the Platypus walks.
● Platypus legs will become longer and
thicker to help the Platypus look larger
to predators and leg muscles will
improve movement.
10. The Margiloper is a domestic 2 legged relative
of the camel that mainly resides in semi arid
areas where desert shrubbery is in abundance.
It is also a marsupial where it has a pouch to
hold its young on its underbelly.The Margiloper
Is mostly non violent, however the Margiloper
will result to violence if its offspring is
endangered.
The Margiloper
11. Normal:
The Margiloper’s favorite meal is the prickly
pear cactus because of its moisture and
nutritious center. The Margiloper also enjoys
to eat desert shrubs and assorted fruits.
The Margiloper- Feeding
Adapted:
● The Margiloper has adapted to the harsh
desert by having an increased stomach
capacity which allows more storage of
water and food.
● The Margiloper has adapted to long days
without food by forming a larger
underbelly which serves as storage of fat
which is slowly burned off as it traverses
the vast desert.
● Large Teeth have been adapted to aid in
the mechanical digestion of large
amounts of herbivorous food.
12. Normal:
The Margiloper has a typical respiration system
of a mammal. It has the same respiratory
organs such as the
Lungs,Bronchus/Bronchioles, etc. However The
Margiloper suffers from narrow Bronchial Tubes
so it has a constant problem of getting oxygen
to the lungs during anaerobic respiration.
The Margiloper- Respiration
Adapted:
● Since the Margiloper has narrow
Bronchial tubes it has adapted to running
long distances in short amounts of time
causing the bronchial tubes to expand
allowing oxygen to get to the lungs at a
faster rate.
13. Normal:
The Margilopers has very poor hearing and
eyesight. The Margilopers also have very
little fur to help portect them from the
cold desert nights, however their fat helps
to keep them warm where fur lacks. The
Margiloper whenever it feels threatened
releases a mucus spit ball at its threat in
order to show its dominance.
The Margiloper- Response
Adapted:
● The Margiloper has adapted to the
Desert nights causing its eyesight and
hearing to be very acute allowing it to
hear/see potential predators.
● The Margiloper has adapted to the
cold desert nights by growing out its
fur allowing warmth.
● The Margiloper has adapted its mucus
spit where it has a sodium build up
causing extreme irritation to the eyes if
contacted with them. This scares off
potential threats by burning their eyes
with the sodium.
14. Normal:
The Margiloper has 2 hind legs and no frontal
legs this allows fast travel across the desert.
The Margiloper has a hoof type foot much like
a horse so it can withstand rough terrain. The
Magiloper also has a long narrow neck to aid in
digestion. The Margiloper has a slender
horizontal back so it makes it more
aerodynamic while running.
The Margiloper- Move & Support
Adapted:
● The Margilopers 2 hind legs have been
adapted to become longer to increase
stride length to help cover more distance.
● The Margilopers neck has been adapted
to increase in width along with the trachea
to help the Margiloper drink water at a
faster rate.
● The Margilopers back has adapted to
form a dip in the vertebrae where riders
may sit upon them for travel.
16. 10 Biome Facts:
1. The large majority of deserts lie on the
Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of
Capricorn.
2. Most large deserts are found away from the
coasts.
3. Only about 10% of all deserts are made up of
sand.
4. In summer, temperatures may reach up to
55°C during the daytime
5. At night Deserts drop below 0° C.
6. Very little rainfall— on average , not more
than 20 cm a year.
7. Most deserts lie between 15° and 35° north
and south of the equator.
8. The Desert is the worlds hottest biome.
9. The Sahara Desert is located in northern
Africa, spanning 12 different countries.
10. The largest hot desert on Earth is the Sahara
Desert.
Conclusion:
10 Assigned Animal Adaptations:
1. Longer, narrower bill to pick out beatles and other
insects from their burrows in the ground.
2. Improved physiological and biological mechanisms
of conserving water and tolerating dehydration.
3. Larger Alveoli sacs in order to provide the body
with more oxygen rich blood.
4. Improved Anaerobic Respiration to stall lactic acid
build up.
5. Male Platypus has a far more potent toxin within
the stingers, causes paralysation.
6. Male Platypus’s sharp stingers on their heels more
sharper in order to scare away predators.
7. The female and male platypus’s eyesight response
to movement on the desert ground will be vastly
improved.
8. The Platypus’s soft webbed feet will become
adapted to the Desert terrain causing its webbed
feet to take a flat, grippy, thick skinned
underfoot.
9. The 5 clawed digits will become stronger lessening
the chances of damage to the uncover broad nails.
10. Platypus legs will become longer and thicker to
help the Platypus look larger to predators and leg
muscles will improve movement.
17. 10 facts about New Animal
1. Increased stomach capacity which allows
more storage of water and food.
2. Has an Underbelly which serves as storage
of fat which is slowly burned off for
energy.
3. Has expanded Bronchial tubes which allow
oxygen to get to the lungs at a faster rate.
4. The Margiloper has adapted to the Desert
nights causing its eyesight and hearing to
be very acute
5. The Margiloper has adapted to the cold
desert nights by growing out its fur
allowing warmth.
6. Has mucus spit which has a high sodium
count which causes extreme irritation to
the eyes. (self defense mechanism)
7. Has 2 long hind legs, has a large stride
which helps cover more distance.
8. The Margiloper has a wide neck/trachea
which aids in drinking vast amounts of
water in a short time frame.
9. The Margilopers back has adapted to form
a dip in the vertebrae where riders may sit
upon them for travel.
10. Large Teeth aid in mechanical digestion of
large amounts of herbivorous food.
Conclusion Contd.
3 Inferences:
1. I think my animals will fit into the desert food
chain because they have all the necessary
adaptations to survive in a desert biome. A
desert that would suit these 2 animals best
would most likely be the mojave desert.
2. I believe the new adaptations that have taken
place for the Platypus and Markiloper will aid in
their survival because their adaptations focus
mainly over hydration which is the key factor of
survival in a desert biome.
3. I think based off of the new adaptations they
will most likely survive because they both have
defense responses, adequate hydration and
movement for the desert.
19. Hypothesis:
I believe that an animal would adapt to the biome because of the terrain, food, predators, climate,
etc the biome has, meaning the animal would have to adapt to survive.
Controls:
The natural adaptations of the Platypus are examples of controls because they were used as an
comparison to the Independent variable that being the adaptations I gave to the Platypus.
Independent Variables:
The Independent variables In my presentation was the Adaptations of the Platypus because I could
choose whatever adaptation i wanted which reflected the control group which i could not change
because they were the natural adaptations of the animal.
Hypothesis, Controls & Independant Variable
