Ecophysiology of Small Desert Mammals

Download or read book Ecophysiology of Small Desert Mammals written by Allan A. Degen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since small mammals have a large surface to mass ratio, one would expect them to quickly dehydrate and perish at high environmental temperatures. Nonetheless, a large number of small mammal species inhabit deserts. This fascinating phenomenon is investigated by Prof. A. Allan Degen in his book. The majority of small desert mammals are rodents, but shrews of several grams and small foxes of 1 kg are also present. Their survival is due mainly to behavioural adaptations and habitat selection, however, physiological adaptations also contribute to the success. Interestingly, many small mammals that live in different deserts of the world show similarities in their adaptive traits although they have different taxonomic affinities.