Childrens Illustrated Animal Atlas

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A tortoise snacks on a desert plant.Mohave desert tortoiseThis desert tortoise can live for up to 50 years. It digs a burrow to avoid the desert heat, and it spends 95 percent of its time there during the summer.

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S I E R R A N E V A D A

The jackrabbit can run up to 30 mph (48 kph) and jump 20 ft (6 m) into the air.

Black-tailed jackrabbit

Bighorn sheep

Male bighorns fight by crashing their big heads and horns together.

Bobcat

A short, or “bobbed,” tail gives this wild cat its name. More than a million bobcats live in North America.

Desert blonde

tarantula

This big, hairy spider lines its desert burrow with silk to keep it from caving in.

Gila monster

This lizard lives mostly underground. It has

a venomous bite

and eats eggs.

Each time a diamondback sheds its skin, it gets a new section added to its rattle.

Sharp spines cover this tree-sized cactus to prevent animals from eating it.

Desert broom

The desert broom’s flowers provide sweet nectar for butterflies.

A turkey vulture perches on a cactus.

Turkey vulture

Turkey vultures can’t kill their own prey, so they eat animals

that have already died instead.

Animals that behave in this way are called scavengers.

Western desertsWestern North America has four deserts. These

dry, sandy areas are hot during the day, but at night they can get very cold. Animals here must survive these tough conditions—and with very little water.

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