"vast plains. The short day passes, the snowstorm begins and the long night is approaching, the temperature drops to minus 40 degrees Celsius. Khromov and Sirotkin face the prospect of freezing to death before they are found or to survive at any cost. In this situation manifest the true psychological and human qualities of each man. A Trip Without a Load A Trip Without a Load () is a 1962 Soviet drama film directed by Vladimir Vengerov. It was entered into the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Silver Prize. A young novice Muscovite journalist, Pavel Sirotkin,"
"of aging. One study found that the cells of short-living rodents ""in vitro"" show much greater mutation rates and a general lack of genome surveillance compared to human cells and are far more susceptible to oxidative stress. Other studies have been conducted on the naked mole rat, a rodent species with remarkable longevity (30 years), capable of outliving the brown rat (3 years) by ten-fold. Additionally, almost no incidence cancer has ever been detected in naked mole rats. Nearly all of the differences found between these two organisms, which are otherwise rather genetically similar, was in somatic maintenance. Naked mole"
"of water. The dromedary camel can drink as seldom as once every 10 days even under very hot conditions, and can lose up to 30% of its body mass due to dehydration. Unlike other mammals, camels' red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water: a camel can drink of water in three minutes. Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water consumption that would kill most other animals."
"go a month or longer without drinking water. A thirsty Bactrian camel can drink 135 liters (30 gallons) in only 13 minutes. They can withstand extremely hot and cold weather and have broad hooves that do not sink in desert. Bactrian camels are known as the ""boats of desert"" – for millennia, they were used to carry goods along the Silk Road. Wild camels are critically endangered and found in the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts. The wild boar, from which the farm-raised pigs was domesticated some 8,000 years ago in China, remains common in the Chinese wilderness. On occasion, boars"
"addax antelope, dik-dik, Grant's gazelle and oryx are so efficient at doing this that they apparently never need to drink. The camel is a superb example of a mammal adapted to desert life. It minimizes its water loss by producing concentrated urine and dry dung, and is able to lose 40% of its body weight through water loss without dying of dehydration. Carnivores can obtain much of their water needs from the body fluids of their prey. Many other hot desert animals are nocturnal, seeking out shade during the day or dwelling underground in burrows. At depths of more than"
"of carbohydrate produces 0.60 grams of water; a gram of protein produces 0.41 grams of water; and a gram of fat produces 1.07 grams of water, making it possible for xerocoles to live with little or no access to drinking water. The kangaroo rat for example makes use of this water of metabolism and conserves water both by having a low basal metabolic rate and by remaining underground during the heat of the day, reducing loss of water through its skin and respiratory system when at rest. Herbivorous mammals obtain moisture from the plants they eat. Species such as the"
"2–3 weeks. Kangaroo rats achieve the ability to be sustained on limited water by having incredibly derived kidneys. To remove waste without losing water, many species have developed mechanisms to concentrate their urine. This happens in the kidneys. There seems to be an inverse correlation of body mass to ability to concentrate urine. So naturally small rodents can persist in much more water deficient environments than larger animals. The desert kangaroo rat has a kidney structure very similar to those of other rodents, but it has much longer papilla (mammalian species). Papilla lengths, along with number of nephrons, play a"
"with a small group of rats in each nest. Brown rats prefer to live at ground level or below. They congregate in colonies of 30 to 50 rats. Rats live to from their food source. The rat can squeeze through holes or gaps the size of a quarter (), because unlike many mammals its skull is not plated together so it can change the shape of its head and squeeze through a very small opening. They are able to leap laterally and can fall five floors without any injuries. An adult rat can tread water for three days. They typically"
"kidney occupies twice as much area as a cow's kidney. Secondly, renal corpuscles have a smaller diameter, which reduces surface area for filtration. These two major anatomical characteristics enable camels to conserve water and limit the volume of urine in extreme desert conditions. Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel faeces are so dry that they do not require drying when the Bedouins use them to fuel fires. The camels are able to live in difficult conditions without drinking water due to their ability to produce small and dry droppings as well as they use the water"
"Mammalian xerocoles sweat much less than their non-desert counterparts. For example, the camel can survive ambient temperatures as high as without sweating, and the kangaroo rat lacks sweat glands entirely. Both birds and mammals in the desert have oils on the surface of their skin to ""waterproof"" it and inhibit evaporation. Desert insects use a similar method, as their cuticles are waxy to prevent water from escaping; however, at critical temperatures (ex. for cockroaches), the wax molecules in the cuticle rearrange to become permeable and permit evaporative cooling. Amphibious xerocoles, such as species of the frog genus ""Phyllomedusa"", have wax-like"
"domesticated Bactrian camel, it is one of the few mammals able to eat snow to provide itself with liquids in the winter. While the legend that camels store water in their stomachs is a misconception, they cannot survive without water for long periods but do have the capacity to conserve water. Wild Bactrian camels (""Camelus ferus"") appear similar to Bactrian camels (""Camelus bactrianus"") but the outstanding difference is genetic, with the two species having descended from two distinct ancestors. There are several differences in size and shape between the two species. The wild Bactrian camel is slightly smaller than the"
"fox and Rüppell's fox. The addax, a large white antelope, can go nearly a year in the desert without drinking. The dorcas gazelle is a north African gazelle that can also go for a long time without water. Other notable gazelles include the rhim gazelle and dama gazelle. The Saharan cheetah (northwest African cheetah) lives in Algeria, Togo, Niger, Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso. There remain fewer than 250 mature cheetahs, which are very cautious, fleeing any human presence. The cheetah avoids the sun from April to October, seeking the shelter of shrubs such as balanites and acacias. They are"
"can survive on a diet consisting only of meat, with no additional water, and can even rehydrate by drinking seawater. While domestic cats are able to swim, they are generally reluctant to enter water as it quickly leads to exhaustion. Cats are obligate carnivores: their physiology has evolved to efficiently process meat, and they have difficulty digesting plant matter. In contrast to omnivores such as rats, which only require about 4% protein in their diet, about 20% of a cat's diet must be protein. A cat's gastrointestinal tract is adapted to meat eating, being much shorter than that of omnivores"
"naked mole-rat is well adapted to the limited availability of oxygen within the tunnels of its typical habitat. It has underdeveloped lungs and its hemoglobin has a high affinity for oxygen, increasing the efficiency of oxygen uptake. It has a very low respiration and metabolic rate for an animal of its size, about 70% that of a mouse, thus using oxygen minimally. In response to long periods of hunger, its metabolic rate can be reduced by up to 25 percent. The naked mole-rat survives for at least 5 hours in air that contains only 5% oxygen; it does not show"
"Feeding occurs in fits and starts of movement and at relatively discrete locations, with an average distance of ~7 m (22 ft.) between stops. Most kangaroo rat species live in arid environments and are known for their ability to make use of metabolic water rather than requiring it from the environment. While the desert kangaroo rats do consume available water, the vast majority of their water requirements are met from byproducts of metabolic processes. Adaptation to very low quantities of water (free or metabolic) is highlighted by the very long water turnover times for the species, on the order of"
"rat lacks pain sensitivity in its skin, and has very low metabolic and respiratory rates. While formerly considered to belong to the same family as other African mole-rats, Bathyergidae, more recent investigation places it in a separate family, Heterocephalidae. The naked mole-rat is also remarkable for its longevity and its resistance to cancer and oxygen deprivation. Typical individuals are long and weigh . Queens are larger and may weigh well over , the largest reaching . They are well-adapted to their underground existence. Their eyes are quite small, and their visual acuity is poor. Their legs are thin and short;"
"which small amounts of water (0.3 ml) can be hidden. Water is used as a reward because, unlike food rewards, rats cannot locate the water using olfactory cues. Rats are water deprived by removing their water for 23 h/day for 3 days. Next, water is randomly placed in half of the 426 wells on the Oasis maze platform (0.3 ml per well), and the rats are given 5 min to find and drink as much water as they can on 2 occasions, separated by 30 min. The next day this procedure is repeated with only 25% of the wells containing"
"water every 10 to 15 days. In the hottest temperatures the dromedary takes water every four to seven days. This camel has a quick rate of rehydration and can drink at per minute. The dromedary has a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which uses countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain. This effectively controls the temperature of the brain. The hump stores up to of fat, which the camel can break down into water and energy to meet its needs when resources are scarce; the hump also helps"
"litres per day. The Bactrian camel produces 5 litres per day and the dromedary produces an average of 20 litres per day. Intensive breeding of cows has created animals that can produce 40 litres per day in ideal conditions. Camels, with their ability to go 21 days without drinking water, and produce milk even when feeding on low-quality fodder, are a sustainable option for food security in difficult environments. Cheese from camel milk is more difficult to make than cheese from the milk of other dairy animals. It does not coagulate easily and bovine rennet fails to coagulate the milk"
"to about 4500 feet. They live in areas of stony soils, including clays, gravel and rocks, which are harder than soils preferred by some other species like banner-tail kangaroo rats. Merriam's kangaroo rats live in hot and dry areas and so must conserve water. They do this in part by lowering their metabolic rate, which reduces loss of water through their skin and respiratory system. They obtain enough water from the metabolic oxidation of the seeds they eat to survive and do not need to drink water at all. Banner-tailed kangaroo rats generally live in grasslands and scrublands. They live"
"(BMR). Rats, which have a high BMR, sleep for up to 14 hours a day, whereas elephants and giraffes, which have lower BMRs, sleep only 3–4 hours per day. It has been suggested that mammalian species which invest in longer sleep times are investing in the immune system, as species with the longer sleep times have higher white blood cell counts. Mammals born with well-developed regulatory systems, such as the horse and giraffe, tend to have less REM sleep than the species which are less developed at birth, such as cats and rats. This appears to echo the greater need"
"largely feed on dry seeds. Kangaroo rats have no need to drink because they are able to extract sufficient water from metabolising their food, obtaining half a gram of water from each gram of seeds eaten. They carry most of the seeds they find back to their burrows in exterior cheek folds lined with fur rather than in cheek pouches inside the mouth as do hamsters. This is because carrying the food in the mouth would involve wetting it and moisture needs to be conserved as much as possible in dry environments. Most species store the seeds they gather in"
"give material to support his opinion. The earless water rat is adapted best to a life in water out of all the muroids. It has extremely long hindfeet, the toes of which are webbed completely, strongly reduced forelegs, absent or invisible ears, very small eyes, and a long tail with a row of hairs at the downside. That row starts at each side of the beginning of the tail as a long white row of hairs; these two rows merge at about 50 mm from the beginning of the tail and the row goes on to the end of the"
"as low as −40 °C in winter to 40 °C in summer. The camels’ distribution is linked to the availability of water, with large groups congregating near rivers after rain or at the foot of the mountains, where water can be obtained from springs in the summer months, and in the form of snow during the winter. Bactrian camels are exceptionally adept at withstanding wide variations in temperature, ranging from freezing cold to blistering heat. They have a remarkable ability to go without water for months at a time, but when water is available they may drink up to 57"
"European water vole The European water vole or northern water vole (""Arvicola amphibius"", included in synonymy: ""A. terrestris""), is a semiaquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair. In the wild, on average, water voles only live about five months. Maximum longevity in captivity is two and a half years. Water voles reach in length, plus a tail which is about half the"
"even when ambient temperatures reach . Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat; the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight to sweating, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance. When the camel exhales, water vapor becomes trapped in their nostrils and is reabsorbed into the body as a means to conserve water. Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to"
"day. They must cover considerable distances, as much as between the few existing water sources and the best grazing sources. This creates severe selection pressure and removes weak animals from the population. Due to scarcity of water, the Namib Desert Horse sometimes goes without water for as long as thirty hours in summer and has been known to go close to 72 hours without water during the winter, significantly longer than most horses, even other feral herds. A 1991 study suggested that in 75 years of genetic isolation and water scarcity the population had developed physiological mechanisms which improved their"
"survive up to 63 days without a blood meal. Ornithonyssus bacoti Ornithonyssus bacoti (also known as the tropical rat mite) is a hematophagous parasite. It feeds on blood and serum from many hosts. ""O. bacoti"" can be found and cause disease on rats and wild rodents most commonly, but also small mammals and humans when other hosts are scarce. Outbreaks tend to occur in older, less maintained buildings. The mite, however, can travel several hundred feet on its own if necessary to find a host and can survive for extended periods of time without a host. This, along with the"
"maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking. The camels' thick coats insulate them from the intense heat radiated from desert sand; a shorn camel must sweat 50% more to avoid overheating. During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn. The camel's long legs help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to . Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the ""pedestal"". When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the"
"temperature variations in their surroundings, or by remaining cold when they do not need to move, reptiles can save considerable amounts of energy compared to endothermic animals of the same size. A crocodile needs from a tenth to a fifth of the food necessary for a lion of the same weight and can live half a year without eating. Lower food requirements and adaptive metabolisms allow reptiles to dominate the animal life in regions where net calorie availability is too low to sustain large-bodied mammals and birds. It is generally assumed that reptiles are unable to produce the sustained high"
"of domesticated Bactrian camels. The wild Bactrian camel can also survive on water saltier than seawater, something which no other mammal in the world, including the Bactrian camel, can tolerate. Wild Bactrian camels generally move in groups of up to 30 individuals, although 6 to 20 is more common depending on the amount of food available. They are fully migratory and widely scattered with a population density as low as 5 per 100 km. They travel with a single adult male in the lead and assemble near water points where larger groups can also be seen. Their lifespan is about"
"When conditions impel them to drink from bodies of water, the methods and motions differ greatly among species. Many desert animals do not drink even if water becomes available, but rely on eating succulent plants. Cats, canines, and ruminants all lower the neck and lap in water with their powerful tongues. Cats and canines lap up water with the tongue in a spoon-like shape. Ruminants and most other herbivores partially submerge the tip of the mouth in order to draw in water by means of a plunging action with the tongue held straight. Cats drink at a significantly slower pace"
"large cage. Rats also need plenty of space and can become very tame, can learn tricks and seem to enjoy human companionship. Mice are short-lived but take up very little space. Hamsters are solitary but tend to be nocturnal. They have interesting behaviors, but unless handled regularly they may be defensive. Gerbils are not usually aggressive, rarely bite and are sociable animals that enjoy the company of humans and their own kind. Some rodent species are serious agricultural pests, eating large quantities of food stored by humans. For example, in 2003, the amount of rice lost to mice and rats"