10 Animal Species That Don’t Drink Water At All

Life without water, sound like a picture of the sandy desert with no sign of water drop anywhere far in the field of the desert. Humans cannot survive without water for more than 3 days and we need to be hydrated for maintaining the heating of our body but there live some strange 10 animals which do not need water for survival on earth and they can even live long without the necessity of water.

HowAndWhys has made a list of 10 animals that can survive with almost no water in their life at all.

Related: Top 5 Creatures That Do Not Have Blood 

10. Mealworms

Mealworms start life as an egg, then hatch into a larva, morph into a pupa, and finally emerge as a beetle. They have a modified urinary system called a “cryptonephridial” system, where their kidneys attach directly to the ends of their rectum. In other words, the last drops of moisture in their food are absorbed by the kidneys and returned to the middle of the gut. Thus they don’t excrete much moisture and can live entirely on their metabolically-produced water.

9. Sand gazelle

Sand gazelles live in a habitat of open sands and can survive long periods without a drink of water.  They have truly adapted themselves to such a harsh environment such as the Arabian Desert.

Interestingly, sand gazelles can shrink their liver and heart – which in turn causes them to breathe and respire less often, thereby preventing extra moisture loss. Many people often assume the camel to be the epitome example of an animal that can survive without water, and while to some extent, they can. There are other unique ways this antelope of the sands conserve water, such as the way it can re-absorb some of its urine back into its body.

8. Freshwater Fish

Only saltwater fish drink. In freshwater, the inner body of the fish is saltier than the surrounding environment. Water moves into the fish by osmosis, passively, through the gills and the skin and the stomach.

Fish has to eliminate all this excess water by peeing dilute urine. In saltwater, the environment is saltier, the fish loses water passively, so it has to drink.

It eliminates excess salt using specialized cells; the excess salt is excreted primarily in highly concentrated urine.

7. Frogs do not swallow water

Frogs have very special skin. They drink and breathe through it. Frogs usually do not swallow water as we do. Instead, they absorb most of the moisture they need through their skin.

Not only that, but frogs also rely on getting extra oxygen (in addition to what they get from their lungs) from the water by absorbing it through their skin. Because frogs get oxygen through their skin when it’s moist, they need to take care of their skin or they might suffocate.

Sometimes you’ll find slimy frogs. This is because the frog skin secretes mucus that helps keep it moist. Even with the slimy skin, these frogs need to stay near water. Toads, on the other hand, have tougher skin that doesn’t dry out as fast, so they can live without water than most frogs.

6. Tiger salamanders

Tiger salamanders do not drink water using their mouths. Rather they receive moisture and hydration from the water content of prey and from the environment through their semi-permeable skin.

Skin absorption reinforces the need for a moist substrate at all times. Tap water contains chlorine and other chemicals that are harmful to most amphibians, including tiger salamanders. In light of this, use rain-water, purified bottled water, dechlorination to treat any tap water used in the habitat.

Distilled water is not appropriate, as the minerals have been removed which can upset the osmotic balance of the salamander. Realize that adult tiger salamanders do not drink water, instead, they absorb it from the environment through their skin. If you are only keeping adult tiger salamanders, a water dish is unnecessary.

5. White-throated Woodrat

A medium-sized woodrat with large ears, bulging black eyes and relatively short, distinctly bicolor tail (grayish brown above, white below), densely covered with short hairs; throat, and usually breast and chin, with hairs white to base; upperparts dull pinkish buff, brightest along sides, thinly suffused with blackish; underparts and feet white.

External measurements:

• Average total length: 328 mm;
• Tail: 152 mm;
• Hind foot: 34 mm;
• Weight: 136-294 g.

The menu of these rats consists of a variety of desert plants, but the cactus family led the list of more than 30 items found in the stomachs of 360 rats examined.

Mesquite and forbs were next in preference. Grasses constituted less than 5% of their fare, but small quantities were regularly consumed. The amount of animal material consumed (ants, birds, beetles, and grasshoppers) was less than 1% of the total diet.

The habit of storing food is not well developed in these rats, but small quantities of food are usually found at each house. If you think this animal drink water or not? then it is not required because of the high water content in their choice of foods.

4. Desert-Dwelling Lizards

While some animals developed ways to extract water from their food, the desert-dwelling lizards don’t drink water at all; they absorb it through their skin.

Lizards adapt very well to their environments like using camouflage and even being able to soak water into their skin as hydration.

Scientists have always suspected that lizards absorb water much like their amphibious neighbors. However, unlike an amphibian’s moist skin, dry lizard skin is designed to both keep water in and out.

3. Koalas do not drink water

Normally Koalas do not drink water. They are not bound to go near the water ponds, pools or rivers, where the predators could ambush them.

Rather Koalas fulfill their requirements from their food intake e.g., through the eucalyptus leaves which comprise more than 55% of water.

The name of the Koala also means no water, which is specifically referred to like this animal based on the core fact that this animal does not drink water at all.

But many other antelopes also take green leaves that might have more than 70% of the water composition. This prompts the second reason why Koalas do not take water, is because they do not move much.

They are slow movers and sleep 20 hours sleeping. This means fewer calories are being burnt within the bodies of Koalas, and as a result of that, they survive without water.

2. The Kangaroo Rat Never Needs To Drink Water

When you think of the perfect animal to survive in a desert setting, chances are you flash immediately to camels. After all, they’ve been reported to survive several months without a drop of water.

However, they’ve got nothing on the kangaroo rat. That’s because the kangaroo rat can go its entire life without once drinking water.

We’re referring to the kangaroo rat, a rodent that’s native to the American Southwest and can, astonishingly, go its entire life without ever drinking a single drop of water.

The kangaroo rat, named as such because it has large, powerful back legs that allow it to jump up to 3 meters (9 ft) at once to avoid predators, survives primarily on seeds and beans that are high in water content, meaning every bit of water they need to survive is in the food they eat. (Read also Top 3 animals that can live without oxygen)

1. Sand cat (Felis margarita harrisoni)

It doesn’t look like a highly skilled killer, but that’s exactly what it is; the sand cat, which is the only felid found primarily in the true desert.

Sand cat: the amazing animal that doesn’t need to drink water. They don’t grow bigger than a normal cat and their tails, which can be as long.

The sand cat (Felis margarita harrisoni) has a wide but disjunct distribution through the deserts of northern Africa and south-west and central Asia.

They can easily live in areas far away from water, and even though they drink water when they can, they get enough hydration just from their prey.

This prey is usually small rodents, but occasionally the sand cat will hunt hares, birds, spiders, insects, and reptiles. And out here in the scorching desert, the sand cat is bound to face venomous snakes — luckily for the cat, it’s an expert snake-killer.