How do animals and plants survive in deserts?

A desert is an area where there is very little water and there is sand all around. Due to the scarcity of water, it is very difficult for animals as well as plants and trees to survive. Only those plants and animals which need very small quantities of water can survive in deserts.
There is a great variation in the temperatures of the days and the nights of deserts. Days are very hot, while nights are cool. To protect themselves from heat, during the day, the desert animals hide themselves in bushes. Whenever there is some rain, plants and animals store water inside their bodies. In deserts, you find many kinds of animals. Snails are found in abundance. American deserts have a kind of rat called 'pack rat'. A kind of animal named 'Jerboa' is found in the deserts of north Africa and Asia. Its hind legs are longer and it resembles the kangaroo. A variety of the wolf is also found in the Arab and African deserts. many kinds of lizards, owls, insects and ants are seen in derserts. All of these need very little quantity of water for survival because loss of water in the form of sweat and urine is very small. They excrete small quantities of urine which is very rich in urea nad uric acid. The camel occupies a very high position among the animals found in the deserts. It is also called the ship of the deserts. It survives on a diet of dry grass and thorny plants. There is a lot of fat accumulated in its hump and it is source of energy to the camel. It can survive without drinking water for several days. Water evaporates from its body at a slow rate. It can drink 25 gallons of water at one time. Its nose, ears and eyes are so constructed that they are not affected by sands. Mainly, two kinds of plants are found in deserts. One is shrub and the other is cactus. The shrubs have more of thorns and less of leaves. Because of lesser number of leaves, evaporation of water present in these plants is very slow. The trunk of cactus is thick and flashy. It has no leaves. It has only thorns. The upper layer of the trunk is very hard and hence water remains stored in the trunk. In some cacti, the ends of the thorns are pointed towards the earth. The dew drops deposited on these ends fall on the earth and thus moisture is maintained below the cacti. Their roots are also spread far and wide inside the earth. After long dry periods even if there is a little rain these roots immediately absorb water. The root of some cacti do not allow other plants to grow near them and thus the possibilities of more food and water increases.