After a sprint, the temperature of the beetle Onymacris plana drops. Efficient running, a body built for cooling and a little bit of lift all help.

However, Namib desert beetles use a different harvesting mechanism than trees do. These insects use the irregular surface morphology -- uneven bumps and flat areas -- on their backs to gather ...

Namib desert beetles do some water collecting of their own. They even have a “fog-basking stance,” said Fan Kiat Chan, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In the Namib desert—one of the driest places in the world—a tiny species of beetle climbs the dunes, leans its body toward the wind, and catches the only source of water it can: passing ...

This first confirmed case of anthrax in the Namib Desert in wildlife demonstrates that the disease might by endemic in the desert and other arid environments.