Endangered Species in Sonoran Desert

The Sonoran desert tortoise is a magnificent species. They can live up to a hundred years in the wild and survive the harsh environment of the Sonoran Desert; their unique adaptations allow them a great significance in this world and show them as a true sign of adaptation in the wild. The Sonoran desert tortoise also known as the gopherus Meraki fee, is an herbivore and a land-dwelling reptile. The tortoise is cold-blooded,ectothermic reptile and therefore cannot regulate its body temperature; to regulate its body temperature it uses a shelter, usually a hole in the ground.

This shelter acts as a weather boundary between the tortoise and the harsh weather of the desert. When it is hot outside the hole is cool, and when it is cold, the hole is warm. The tortoise will spend up to 95% of its life in its hole. It will only go outside to get food and breed usually between July and October. This is during the monsoon season when heavy rains pour down on the ground.

During this the turtle digs trenches for the water to fill up in, it will wait or go back there and use it as a makeshift water hole. when all the water is dried up the tortoise does not need to worry about dehydration. It has a special adaptation that allows it to go for up to a year without drinking any water. it stores the water in its bladder where it will act as a storage container.

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It is interesting to know that Sonoran desert tortoise usesit’s bladder as a defense mechanism. When it is picked up it will release the liquids in the bladder , spraying on to the predator. If a human does this and there is no water nearby the tortoise can risk dehydration and death. The tortoise is a thick shelled reptile and therefore does not have many natural predators however, it will occasionally be attacked by mountain lions and Eagles if there are no other food sources available. The baby tortoises on the other hand, are different; they have not yet gained a thick hard shell and are threatened by Raptors coyotes Ravens Bobcats and foxes .

These baby tortoises are produced when the tortoises reach immaturity of 12 to 20 years. after the monsoon season begins mating occurs. The females will lay between 3 to a dozen eggs and we\'ll bury them under the ground In The Den. the Sonoran Desert Tortoise also faces human threats and in 1990 was put under The Endangered Species Act ( insert link to article here)

The Sonoran Desert is approximately 100000 square miles. This encompasses a chunk of Southern Arizona, California and much of Sonora Mexico. It is a very Lush dessert with both legume and calmer cacti, in addition there are also another 2,000 other species of plants. the time. From July to Mid September is when localized thunderstorms appear over the Sonoran Desert and bring much of its rainfall. as does the rest of the world the Sonoran Desert has for categorizable seasons Starting with summer and monsoons.

These are large storms that can often bring tremendous amounts of rain and water the vegetation and feed the Wildlife. followed by autumn during November slightly cooler temperatures, little rain and the start of winter vegetation. Third is winter in December through February these are days that are most sunny with occasional storms and cooler temperatures occasionally there are snowfall. then finally their spring which is February to April this has mild Heat little rain and and flowering for the vegetation.( taken from WWW. Desert Museum. Org/desert/Sonora. PHP)