This question could be answered in a book!
- To survive the drought the species must overcome the problem of lack of water.
- Some species of frogs burrow into mud, shed skin cells to form a waterproof bag around themselves. Thus they hibernate in small balls of hardened mud and can be reawakened by the next rain even if that is in five years. Imagine the surprise of Europeans to find rocks in Australia that turn into hopping croaking frogs in the rain.
- Some animals that are used to periods of long spells of dry weather do not urinate but rather deposit the uric acid as a solid. This conserves water.
- Some animals can delay development of the foetus or fertilised ovum until the season is good enough to ensure enough food supply for survival eg Kangaroos, freshwater "sidewalker" crabs from Northern Territory
- Some animals eg some crustaceans will lay eggs that can remain dormant until the rain comes.
- Some marsupials hide in cracks in rocks, surviving for long periods without rain.
- Crocodiles can survive for over a year without eating, will immerse themselves in mud that can harden and cocoon the animal.
- Seeds of plants that are drought resistant have hard waxy coating that allows the seeds to remain dormant for years until the rain comes. Lotus seeds can survive for over 200 years.
- Some plants produce spores or spore like seeds that lie dormant until it rains.
The term drought is a relative one. In some countries, rain is regular and plentiful, therefore, a month or 6 months without rain is a drought. For some countries 5 to 8 years without rain is normal. Drought is an introduced term in Australian indigenous languages. Eyre's Lake in central Australia teems with glorious wildlife and flowers every few years, otherwise, it is pretty much a salt pan.
