A desert rodent that gets its water from its meals
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In the desert, some animals seem to do without water with remarkable ease. One of them is a small Tunisian rodent, the greater Egyptian jerboa. How does it manage when water is scarce all around it?
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The answer lies in its diet. Jaculus orientalis gets its water from the green vegetation it eats, and the available data describe it as able to survive for a long time without free water. However, no precise duration has been measured for this species.
The dromedary follows a different strategy. According to a review on camel proteins and enzymes, it can lose about 25% of its body weight in water during acute dehydration, a figure other sources put between 25 and 30%. In the Sahara, it may also go several months without drinking, but these periods depend heavily on rest, food and moisture.
A frequently repeated detail is wrong: the camel's hump does not store water, but fat. As this fat is broken down, it also produces metabolic water.
