Gray Gulls (Larus modestus) hatch their eggs in the middle of the Atacama Desert far away from the coast. The Atacama receives very, very little rain, and is described as the driest place on Earth. The Atacama Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Atacama) is a plateau in South America, covering a 1,000-kilometre (600 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes mountains. Cone-bearing plants 4. Unexpectedly, at points the arid Atacama Desert nestles alongside lagoons, springs and rich farmland busy with Atacama Desert animals such as grazing llamas and alpacas. Mammals. Answer and Explanation: The Atacama Desert rarely gets rain and is one of the driest places on Earth. Many mammals, reptiles, and amphibians live in burrows to escape the intense desert heat. A few guanacos survive on the fringes of the desert. In the Atacama the lack of water and cool temperatures keep many of the hungrier predators at bay. On average, the South America desert sees as little as 1 cm of rainfall a year and supports next to no vegetation. It may look for all the world like a slightly disgruntled rabbit,... 2. Adaptations help desert animals to acquire and retain water, and to regulate body temperatures, which helps them to survive in the harsh conditions of the desert. This part of Chile also contains the world’s largest open copper mine at Chuquicamata. In an average year, much of this desert gets less than 1 millimeter (0.04 inch) of rain! High temperatures and scarcity of water makes sustenance very difficult in the desert. REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS: There are barely any reptiles or amphibians in the Atacama Desert. Some areas of the Atacama have not had any recorded rain in hundreds of years!Plant and animal life in the Atacama are extremely scarce. The vicugna (pronounced vee-koo-nya !) The Andean, the Chilean and the James. Most animals either come out during the early morning or in the evening. Vallenar toads can be found on the lomas and it lays its eggs in ponds or streams. Because of the desert's extreme aridity, only a few specially adapted mammal species live in the Atacama. In fact, the oldest Chinchorro mummies predate those found in Egypt by thousands of years. Despite being an arid desert, the Atacama is also home to several different types of animals. The Addax Antelope is found in isolated pockets of the Sahara Desert. We wouldn’t blame you if you’ve never thought to look for a flamingo in the desert,... 3. Only one of the rivers from the Andes mountains reaches the ocean through the desert… Cacti 3. This animal is found in sandy as well as semi-arid desert regions.