It is difficult to answer unequivocally which animals live in the steppe, since this natural zone is extremely vast. The composition of the fauna of the steppes varies depending on the geographic location. Therefore, it makes sense to highlight the most typical representatives.
Large animals of the steppe
The steppe is a plain located in the temperate or subtropical zone of the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. The steppes are poor in vegetation, and there are almost no trees in them. The fauna of the steppe is not very diverse, but rather curious.
The fauna of the steppe by many indicators - in particular, by species composition - resembles the fauna of deserts. The steppes are characterized by hot summers, aridity, severe cold in winter, and a small amount of pasture. Therefore, the animals inhabiting the steppe are forced to adapt to harsh climatic conditions. In the summer, most of them are nocturnal.
Of ungulates, most often you can find antelope, gazelle, saiga. In general, the steppe is characterized by species with sharp eyesight and the ability to run quickly. The Mongolian steppe is inhabited in large numbers by Dzhigetai. These are equid mammals of the equine family, which are a species of wild donkeys. They have a stocky body with a dun-colored coat and a short black mane.
It is difficult to imagine a steppe without wolves, coyotes, jackals and korsaks. The latter should be discussed separately. Korsak is a steppe fox, which outwardly resembles an ordinary fox, but differs in longer legs and a short tail. In summer, its skin is reddish-gray in color, in winter it turns yellowish.
Other fauna
The steppe is home to numerous rodents, building complex burrows, for example, hamsters, ground squirrels and marmots. The typical representatives of the steppe are jerboas.
Birds are quite diverse: gray herons, larks, kestrels, steppe eagles, quails, bustards, belladonna cranes, hoopoes, bitterns, rolling rollers, pink starlings live in the steppe. For the winter, most of the birds fly away.
Finally, the fauna of the steppe zone includes a huge number of insects. Since strong winds blow in the steppe almost all year round, either few flying or, on the contrary, powerful winged species that can resist the air flow survive here. First of all, it is worth mentioning locusts, there are quite a few Diptera and Hymenoptera. There are also butterflies - mostly modest scoops.
Attention is drawn to the fact that the steppe zone of North America is inhabited by fauna much poorer than in Eurasia. The fauna of Australia is even less diverse - here the steppes are inhabited mainly by marsupials.
