Sonoran plants and animals have developed unique ways to survive.
• The roots of the Mesquite tree can bore down 30 meters into the soil to find moisture.
• Some plants die completely above ground, but survive underneath the soil as thickened roots, bulbs, tubers, rhizomes and nodules of a variety of designs, structures and sizes.
• Some trees, like the ironwood and ocotillo, lose their leaves during times of drought, much like trees in Michigan during the winter.
• Kangaroo rats, one of the smallest desert mammals, can survive their entire lives without drinking a drop of water. They get their water from dry seeds and the occasional leaf or insect. The kangaroo rat has a highly effective metabolic system to conserve and recycle any water it does consume. For example, the kangaroo rat pees a highly concentrated paste. Nasal passages are also designed to cool the rat's breath so it condenses the moisture into little water droplets that are reabsorbed into the rat's body.
• Roadrunners spend most of their lives on the ground and can run at speeds up to 40km/hr. Running is actually less strenuous and requires less energy than flying, allowing the roadrunner to conserve water and energy.
• Spadefoot toads estivate (a hibernation type state) for 8-9 months of the year. A horny projection on each hind foot acts as a digging tool to make a burrow underground. Then the toad secretes and covers itself with a slimy substance to keep it from drying out during its very long nap.
