Insects and Reptiles
surrounding, they had to find ways to resist the extremely high temperatures in the Namib and the Kalahari - the ground can heat up to 80°C and more. Like insects they have become mainly nocturnal and hide away in holes, between rocks or bury themselves in the sand during the heat of the day. To prevent them from loosing too much water, lizards and snakes have a resistant skin, covered with scales of horn, whereas turtles are protected by their thick shield of bone. Some lizards have developed behaviour of positioning themselves differently towards the sun, depending on the time of day, to control their body temperature with the angle the sunbeams hit their body.

The following list of reptiles and insects of course doesn't show all kinds that can be found on the Vogelstrausskluft, but gives an impression of some of the most interesting or most common species.
Because of the harsh conditions life in the desert mainly takes place in small dimensions. The major number of desert animals therefore is insects, spiders or reptiles, of which only a small number is dangerous for a human. Only sporadically seen during the day, the Kalahari at night awakens to life.

In the desert insects have two important advantages of all other species: their small size and their firm exoskeleton. Due to their size insects are able to find shelter from the sun or enemies even under stones or small plants, and need only very little water to survive. In most cases the dewdrops that form every morning on leaves or rocks suffice. The exoskeleton on the other side protects them against loosing too much water due to evaporation and makes them resistant against the high temperatures on the ground.

Although desert reptiles, like all other reptiles, are cold-blooded, and therefore can adapt their body temperature to their

  Insects (selection)
Population Habitats
  Matebele Ants widespread   whole farmarea
  Preying Mantis rare   whole farmarea
  Red Scorpion spread   whole farmarea
  Spiderhunter Wasp spread   whole farmarea
Population Habitats
  Black Scorpion spread   whole farmarea
  Citrus Swallowtail often   whole farmarea
  Common Baboon Spider spread   sandy areas
  Fog-Basking Beetle widespread   whole farmarea

  Reptiles (selection)
Population Habitats
  Mole Snake rare   whole farmarea
  Namaqua Chameleon rare   whole farmarea
  Namib Sand Gecko spread   whole farmarea
  Namib Web-Footed Gecko widespread   whole farmarea
  Namibian Rock Agama rare   whole farmarea
  Puffadder spread   whole farmarea
  Shovel-Snouted Lizard rare   whole farmarea
  Smith's Desert Lizard spread   whole farmarea
  Spotted Sand Lizard rare   whole farmarea
  Thread Snake rare   whole farmarea
  Tiger Snake rare   whole farmarea
  Wedge-Snouted Lizard rare   whole farmarea
Population Habitats
  Black Spitting Cobra rare   whole farmarea
  Blind Snake rare   whole farmarea
  Brown House Snake rare   whole farmarea
  Cape Cobra rare   whole farmarea
  Common Egg-Eater rare   whole farmarea
  Coral Snake rare   whole farmarea
  Gecko spread   whole farmarea
  Horned Adder spread   whole farmarea
  Kalahari Ground Gecko widespread   whole farmarea
  Karoo Sandveld Lizard spread   whole farmarea
  Knox's Desert Lizard rare   whole farmarea
  Many Horned Adder rare   whole farmarea
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