Sage Thrasher in the Mojave Desert (IMAGE)

University of California - Berkeley

Sage Thrasher in the Mojave Desert

Caption

A sage thrasher perches on a shrub near Kelleys Well in Inyo County, California. The Mojave Desert's bird populations have been hit hard by climate change, but a new study shows that its small mammal populations are stable. Physiological modeling indicates that small mammals have much lower "cooling costs" than birds because of their ability to escape the sun in underground burrows, protecting them from the warming effect of climate change.

Credit

Chelsea Hofmeier photo

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