Fig. 1. Desiccation-tolerant animals and flowering plants are dominant species in some extremely dry habitats: (A) Taylor Valley, Antarctica, where the tolerant soil nematode Scottnema lindsayae may be the most common animal; (B) seasonally dry, ephemeral pools in Nigeria, the habitat of the tolerant larva of the fly Polypedilum vanderplanki; (C) rock outcrops in South Africa, a habitat of the tolerant shrub Myrothamnus flabellifolius. In less dry habitats, desiccation-tolerant animals and plants are subordinate species: (D) temperate heathland in Öland, Sweden, a habitat of the tardigrade Richtersius coronifer. Photos by Andy Parsons (A), Takashi Okuda (B), Jill Farrant (C) and Ingemar Jönsson (D).