Living in the Extreme
Creatures have adapted and survive in every habitat on Earth. Dr Anjani Ganase looks at some of the strange organisms that thrive in extreme conditions. Extremophiles are organisms that are adapted to living in the most inhospitable places on earth: in places of extreme cold or hot temperatures, under acidic or alkaline conditions, even in places under extreme pressure, buried under rocks or in the deep ocean. Such organisms have developed physical and behavioural traits that permit them to survive and to thrive in places that are devoid of other competing life. DESERT RAINBOW FISH native to Australia, is a rare species of fish found in arid and semi-arid environments. They live in schools and grow to ten centimetres in length; and are iridescent in colour. They are adapted to living in small pockets of slow-moving water, such as watering holes and ephemeral streams (bodies of water that remain for a short period after flooding), lakes and stock...