Research Paper on:
California Desert Species of Animals and Plants

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
cold. Indeed, it can readily be argued that heat is not the only prerequisite for desert environment, inasmuch an arctic-like atmosphere is just as much a part of the  desert since its water source is locked within the ice structures. Therefore, there are two distinctly separate entities of life forms that exist within the desert landscape: the heat-adapted  and the cold-adapted. "All sorts of creatures, from mud-burrowing fish to wild cats, scorpions to camels, sidewinding snakes to jackrabbits, find homes in the worlds deserts. Theyve all  evolved adaptations to the deserts harsh extremes of dryness and heat. And extreme cold" (Anonymous, 1995, p. PG). The plant and animal  life that thrives within the deserts landscape are both vast and varied; from the tiny ant to the kingly wolf, from the most insignificant weed to the sturdy cactus, the  desert is filled with a multitude of life forms, all of which learned how to adjust to their hostile surroundings. A number of adaptations have occurred throughout time in  order to better equip this plant and animal life with the ability to withstand the most unfriendly of all living atmospheres; however, this acclimatization did not occur overnight, but rather  over an extended period of time as the physiological composition of such plants and animals continued to evolve. "Deserts can be forbidding places--sometimes parched, sometimes very hot or very  cold. Yet they nurture a variety of life" (Anonymous, 1995, p. PG). When one initially thinks of desert life, the immediate reaction  is often that of snakes and cactus; while these two life forms do, indeed, represent the kind of flora and fauna thriving in such diverse conditions, they are but two