LIFE IN THE DESERT

Extreme heat that reaches up to 50-60^oC (122-140^oF) in the daytime, freezing cold at night, drought that can last for weeks even months, and very little amount of food. You might think it impossible to live in such a place. These tough places are deserts and, contrary to what you might think, many creatures live in the desert. Below we mention some of these creatures.

One desert animal is the cream coloured fox, which is the smallest of all fox species (on the next page). The ears of this fox species are bigger than those of others. These wide ears are very useful for the fox, which lives in the sandy deserts of Africa and Arabia. For example, the fox can easily determine its prey's location thanks to its sensitive ears. Preventing excessive heating, these ears also help the animal remain cool.

Another creature that lives in the deserts is the shovel-snouted lizard (below). To cool its tail and feet, this creature moves on hot sands as if it were dancing. Supported by its tail, it raises one of its front and one of its back legs transversely. A few seconds later, it is the turn of the other two legs. With its peculiarly shaped nose and body, the lizard moves in the mounds of sand as if swimming. Its big feet enable it to run fast on the sand without being hurt by the heat.

The desert frogs that live in Australia are like water tanks. A desert frog fills the pouches in its body with water when it rains. Then it buries itself in the sand and begins to wait for the next rain. Thanks to the water they store in their pouches, desert frogs can survive in the desert.

Have you noticed the common characteristics of desert creatures, of which we have given a few examples here? Their body structures are remarkably designed for living in the desert and they have characteristics quite distinct from other creatures. Also, these animals apparently know very well how they should act for protection from the desert heat and to cope with thirst. How could a frog or a lizard have such knowledge? How could they possess the exact body structure that they require?

Certainly animals could not know these things by themselves. They could neither create water tanks in their bodies nor generate big ears to protect themselves from the heat. In order to survive in the desert, these creatures must have had these characteristics since they came into being. Otherwise, they would soon become extinct from excessive heat, thirst or hunger. However, this does not happen. Moreover, all desert creatures on earth have the capacity to endure desert conditions. Each species has unique characteristics that enable it to survive in the desert.

All these lead us to one truth. The One Who created desert creatures together with the features they have today is Allah. Allah has power to do whatever He likes at any time He likes. In a verse of the Qur'an, Allah informs us that everything is easy for Him:

The Originator of the heavens and earth. When He decides on something, He just says to it, "Be!" and it is. (Surat al-Baqara: 117)

THE SPECIAL COOLING SYSTEM OF GAZELLES

Air conditioners protect us from cold in winter and from heat in summer. Yet, humans are not the first to discover cooling systems. Many creatures already have in their bodies cooling systems that function like air conditioners.

We may give the fast running gazelles of Africa as an example. Like many others, this animal, too, has to run away from its enemies to survive because it does not have any other defence mechanism. Yet, this fast running increases its body heat excessively, which is very dangerous for the gazelle because as the body heat increases, so does the gazelle's brain heat. However, in order for the gazelle to survive, its brain heat needs to be cooler than that of the body. So you may wonder how it is that gazelles don't die.

The answer to this question leads us to the fact of creation.

The brain of a gazelle is cooled by a special cooling system located on the right side of its head. Gazelles and other fast-running animals have breathing canals. Hundreds of small blood veins spread in the large blood accumulations behind these canals. The air the gazelle inhales cools this area and hence the blood that passes through these small blood veins. These small veins then unite in a single blood vessel that conveys blood to the brain. Thanks to this system, the gazelle is not affected by the sharp increase in its body heat while running.

You must have already concluded that such a perfect system could not have come into existence spontaneously over time. That is because the lack of this system, which is required for cooling the brain, would mean the death of the gazelle during its very first run.

As seen in the cooling system of gazelles, there is perfect design in living creatures. In other words, the body structure and the organs of a living thing cannot possibly come into existence over time as claimed by evolutionists.

All creatures have body structures consisting of systems that would not work even if one of the components were missing, such as the cooling system of gazelles. This proves that living creatures did not come into existence over time as a result of coincidences as evolutionists claim, but Allah created them. It is crystal clear to those who can take heed and use their intellect. Allah commands in a verse:

..."The Lord of the East and the West and everything between them if you used your intellect." (Surat ash-Shu'ara': 28)

THE STRENGTH OF WOODPECKERS

Woodpeckers make their nests and food stores by pecking holes in trees. The speed at which a woodpecker bores into a tree with its bill is approximately 40 km/hour (25 miles/hour). This, in fact, is an extraordinary speed that could have damaged the woodpecker. However, there is a special locking system in the bird's beak so that it does not sustain injury. If this special system did not exist, the woodpecker's beak would crack in two because of the high speed. Besides, if the impact of the stroke went directly to the brain, then the bird would lose consciousness. Yet, such a thing never happens since Allah created the bird together with what it needs. The woodpecker's brain is placed at the same level as its beak. Muscles on the lower part of the beak act like "shock absorbers" and reduce the shock that occurs while boring into the tree.

What we have mentioned so far are only a few of the general characteristics of woodpeckers. Apart from those mentioned, every woodpecker species has many characteristics peculiar to itself. Now let's consider a kind of woodpecker that hides acorns in trees.

Throughout summer, the acorn woodpecker bores "holes" in a dead tree trunk because at the end of the summer it will fill these holes with acorns, on which it will feed during winter. Acting like a hammer, it drives one acorn in each hole. This takes a great deal of the woodpecker's time because it tries to find the acorn that fits exactly into the hole it has bored. If the hole is big and the acorn is small, then the loose acorn will easily be taken by other birds. If the hole is smaller than the acorn, then the acorn will be damaged while it is being forced into the hole. Therefore, it takes some time for the woodpecker to place acorns by trial and error.

A woodpecker that stores acorns in the holes in the trunk of an oak (top left) and another woodpecker species (right).

Yet there is even more that a woodpecker needs to do. As acorns dry over time they become smaller. This means that the woodpecker should replace dry acorns with fresh ones.

It should also be noted that the woodpecker does not merely store 5 to 10 acorns; an acorn woodpecker can stock approximately 50,000 acorns in a big tree.

Reflecting upon these interesting characteristics, we understand that there is a superior Power Who teaches all these things to woodpeckers. This power is Allah. Allah created the beaks of woodpeckers strong enough to drill bark. It is Allah Who taught them everything they do. There is no other god and creator besides Allah. Allah informs us that He created everything:

That is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything. (Surat al-An'am: 102)

CUTE SQUIRRELS WITH BIG CHEEKS

The squirrel you see in the picture below is the ground squirrel, also called the squirrel with cheek pouches. What distinguishes this squirrel species from others is that it carries the food that it does not consume right away in the pouches in its cheeks. The squirrel stocks this food for future use.

These cheek pouchess are actually loose folds of skin. The interior lining of these folds is bare but not humid, therefore food can be stored in these pouches for a long time without spoiling. These pouches extend to the sides.

To fill these pouches, the squirrel takes a walnut between its paws and cuts off the pointy parts on both ends with its teeth. Then it puts the walnut in one of the pouches and the next walnut in the other. Pouches are filled in this way one after the other. The animal can place four walnuts in each pouch. So, the face of the squirrel alters so that we think it is interesting and cute.