For animals, life in the desert isn’t easy! Summer temperatures in our desert are quite high with some days over 40° Celcius. Hence, summers can be real scorchers, especially to those familiar with Canada’s more temperate climes. Plants and animals of this region have to be especially adapted to handle these conditions. Typically, many of the animals are nocturnal, hiding in the shade of bushes or deep in burrows to escape the harsh mid-day heat, and then becoming active at night. Many species of birds and mammals which live in our desert are displayed in the galleries on the right.

Warm-blooded is an archaic term used to describe an animal that keeps its core body temperature at a nearly constant level regardless of the temperature of the surrounding environment (that is, to maintain thermal homeostasis). This can involve not only the ability to generate heat, but also the ability to cool down. Warm-blooded animals control their body temperature by regulating their metabolic rates (e.g. increasing their metabolic rate as the surrounding temperature begins to decrease).

Thanks to more thorough research in the field of animal physiology, scientists have come to realize that body temperature types do not easily fit a simple either/or scenario. Body temperature maintenance incorporates a wide range of different techniques that result in a body temperature spectrum, with the traditional ideals of warm blooded and cold-blooded being at opposite extremes.

Because of the generalness of the terms, as well as an increased understanding in this field, both warm blooded and cold-blooded have mostly fallen out of favour. They have since been replaced with one, or more, of their variants.