The desert fish have been isolated from the world since 60,000 years.

For humans, the living conditions are extremely harsh. The temperature is too high or too low, which is not suitable for our human survival. Therefore, although the earth’s land area is large, there are many areas where no one lives, such as in the North and South Poles, Humans are rarely seen in areas with harsh environments such as plateaus, deserts, and deserts. It is precisely because we have very high requirements for our living environment that some people believe that there may not be many living things in those extreme environments. Let’s know about desert fish

But in fact, whether under the extremely cold Arctic and Antarctic glaciers or in the extremely arid desert areas, there are some extremely tenacious creatures. For example, when scientists were drilling and exploring the Antarctic glaciers, they discovered some unknown creatures under the thick ice sheets, which refreshed scientists’ understanding of life. In some desert areas, there are even some desert fish. For example, the desert fish in Death Valley in the United States have been isolated from the world for almost 60,000 years.

desert fish

Our first impression is that deserts are extremely arid and desolate areas, where water sources are very scarce and annual rainfall is very low. Logically speaking, there are only some drought-resistant plants in these desert areas. Therefore, it may seem unbelievable to say that there are some in the desert, because this cannot live without water, and water in the desert is extremely rare.

Death Valley in the United States can be said to be very famous. It is one of the driest and hottest areas in North America. The temperature here is very high, and the highest temperature in summer can even reach 56°C. In addition, the three mountains here, Sierra Nevada, Mount Panamin, and Mount Agas, form a rain barrier that blocks the humid sea wind from the Pacific. Therefore, there is almost no chance of rainfall here. It is very dry and the air is full of rain. There is almost no moisture content.

It seems like a dead world, but in this extremely arid desert, there lives a very tenacious desert fish – the devil medaka. Of course, this desert fish does not live directly in the desert sand. , but lives in the Devil’s Cave, which is about 3.5 meters wide, 22 meters long, and 130 meters deep. Although the temperature in Death Valley can reach over 50°C, the water temperature in this Devil’s Hole remains around 32°C.

Death Valley

According to scientists’ research, Death Valley, which now looks extremely dry and desolate, was not like this about 2.58 million years ago. Death Valley was also a warm and humid world. It may have been a lake, so it was Various fish species once lived here. Later, with changes in the environment, the once humid Death Valley turned into the desert scene it is now. Although the environment has undergone tremendous changes, many creatures that once lived here have disappeared, but those desert fish devils have survived until now. They have been isolated from the world for 60,000 years, and now their number is getting smaller and smaller, with only 38 left.

For most fish, it is difficult to survive at a water temperature of 32°C, but because the desert fish devils have survived here for a long time, they can adapt to such water temperatures. On the contrary, if the water temperature drops, these desert fish devils The killifish may not survive. These desert fish are not large, about the same size as a small goldfish. The Devil’s Cave in Death Valley is the only known habitat for these desert fish, which also means that they face greater risks. Once the Devil’s Cave is destroyed, Or if the environment changes drastically, these desert fish may be wiped out.

Devil’s Cave

Even if the environment of Devil’s Cave remains unchanged and humans do not interfere with them. The future situation of these desert fish is actually not optimistic. Because the water space of Devil’s Cave is not very large. This means that the number of these can sustain the survival is not very large. As a result, the genetic diversity of desert fish is relatively low, coupled with inbreeding among desert fish. There are still many problems face by desert fish. Since it is difficult for Devil’s Cave to maintain a larger number of this. Why don’t humans move some of to other waters for protection. Thereby increasing the population size of this fish?

In view of the fact that the current situation of this fish is not optimistic. And may become extinct at any time. Local people have built three refuges for it to simulate the Devil’s Cave environment and moved some this to the newly built habitat.

Slightly different environments

However, due to the extremely high phenotypic plasticity of this. It slightly different environments will lead to changes in their phenotypes. Therefore, even if three shelters are built to simulate the Devil’s Cave environment. They will still not be exactly the same as the original Devil’s Cave environment. The phenotypes of the desert fish that were eventually transfer were quite different from those that lived in Devil’s Cave. In other words, moving This out of the desert will change their shape.

In addition to the presence of these fish in the Death Valley desert. There are also some similar desert fish, the Tasmanian silverback, in the deserts of central Australia. The existence of these desert fish has to make people think of whether. They would be on the desolate and arid Mars. There are also similar “desert fish”, or other Martian creatures that live in the desert.

Although the current environment of Mars is extremely arid and desolate. Mars was once warm and humid billions of years ago. And there is still a large amount of water ice material on Mars today. It cannot be rule out that there are some unknown materials in some underground caves. Small lakes, small rivers, there may also be various unknown creatures in these potential lakes. However, whether there is life on Mars requires further search to find the answer.