Main content

Planet Earth IISeries 1, DesertsIn pictures...

The incredible ways in which animals cope with living in the planet's deserts.

Gallery
14/14

Special grooves in the darkiling beetle's casing helps to channel water from all over its body towards its mouth.

Namib Desert, Namibia

  • Sand grouse quickly take to the wing to get out of the way of these fighting oryx.
  • Harris hawks can be found throughout much of the Americas
  • Palmato geckos have webbed-feet so that they can more easily move across the surface of the sand.
  • Lightning in the desert
  • Namibia’s arid gravel plains are so incredibly hot that rain often evaporates before it hits the ground.
  • Some of the oldest and largest sand dunes in the world.
  • When two evenly matched mustang stallions come together the results can be short but explosively violent fights.
  • Otonycteris, the desert long-eared bat.
  • Rob Drewett filming in the middle of a swarm of a billion flying locusts.
  • Piloting a large, remotely operated drone through the narrow walls of a slot canyon.
  • A lioness stalks her prey
  • Because prey is so thin on the ground, desert lions must hunt whatever animals they come across.
  • The golden mole uses its entire head as an amplifier that it thrusts into the sand to sense movement.
  • Special grooves in the darkiling beetle's casing helps to channel water from all over its body towards its mouth.

This gallery is from

Galleries

See all galleries from Planet Earth II (6)