From scorching deserts to freezing oceans, birds have developed incredible methods for regulating their body temperatures.
their normal body temperatures run as hot as 109 degrees Fahrenheit, or 42 degrees Celsius
It looks like the angriest housecat you’ve ever seen, but it’s actually the Pallas’s cat: a small Asian wildcat known for its thick fur and unusual face.
when temperatures in the mountains drop below -58 degrees Fahrenheit (-50 degrees Celsius
With their big ears, wide eyes and furry paws, sand cats may look adorable… but they’re quite tough! Sand cats are the only members of the cat family that live exclusively in desert environments. Get to know these hardy felines in this Q&A.
Daytime temperatures can easily top 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) in
The semiaquatic Chinese crocodile lizard is found only in China and Vietnam. It is gray-brown with red-orange markings along its throat and sides. Two rigid rows of scales along its tail give this reptile a crocodilian appearance.
and March, when water temperatures dip below 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius
Flatail characins, also called kissing prochilodus, have silver bodies and colorful fins. They live in the Amazonia River system.
prefer water temperatures between 71.6 and 78.8 degrees Fahrenheit (22 to 26 degrees Celsius
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Mary Hagedorn and the Reef Recovery Initiative have been making great strides in the effort to save the world’s coral reefs.
to the amazing heat tolerance of their symbiodinium, which is up to 35 degrees Celsius
Like many aging animals, Asian elephant Shanthi has osteoarthritis. She was first diagnosed with the chronic condition when she was in her teens. Zoo keepers and veterinarians have spent decades successfully managing her disease with multi-modal therapies.
The plasma was then frozen to negative 80 degrees Celsius, thawed and injected into
When the water surrounding the coral warms greater than 1 degree Celsius or more
Several inches of snowfall kept the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute closed to visitors, but the animals and their caretakers still had a good time!
nighttime winter temperatures can drop to around 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or -4 degrees Celsius
An ordinary-looking fish that isn’t ordinary at all, the mummichog is able to withstand vast temperature and salinity shifts as well as tolerate higher levels of pollutants and radiation than many other animals on the planet.
will stay buried until the temperature reaches about 60 Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius
