The desert can be a tough place to live, with rare and unpredictable rainfall and temperatures that range from freezing to scorching. But desert animals and plants have adapted to the extreme conditions. Many of them shut down or hide out during the hottest, driest times. Step into our southwestern desert, and find out how life thrives in this extreme place. This exhibit features live animals including a desert tortoise, chuckwallas, a Gila monster, honeypot ants, scorpions and fennec foxes!
Extreme Zone: Desert
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Image attribution
Pete Eckert
Meet the Cactus
Find out about the special adaptations cactuses have to help them survive the heat and dryness of the desert. Cactuses can store water in their cells, swell up when they are full of water, keep water in with waxy skin and more. Large cactuses like saguaro provide homes to many desert animals, too.
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Image attribution
Tracie Spence Photography
Flash Flood!
The desert is a dry place, but when it rains, it can pour! A summer storm can bring most of a year's rain in a single afternoon. Experience the thunderous thrill of a flash flood in our desert exhibit, where floods come every few minutes instead of just once a year.
Image
Image attribution
Pete Eckert
Meet the Cactus
Find out about the special adaptations cactuses have to help them survive the heat and dryness of the desert. Cactuses can store water in their cells, swell up when they are full of water, keep water in with waxy skin and more. Large cactuses like saguaro provide homes to many desert animals, too.
Image
Image attribution
Tracie Spence Photography
Flash Flood!
The desert is a dry place, but when it rains, it can pour! A summer storm can bring most of a year's rain in a single afternoon. Experience the thunderous thrill of a flash flood in our desert exhibit, where floods come every few minutes instead of just once a year.
