desert

So were their two desert tortoises, now living as evacuees in my Alhambra backyard.

The microbiologists used the novel approach on Atacama soil samples collected from the desert along a west-to-east swath from the ocean's edge to the foothills of the Andes mountains.

Even that small outpost is miles from the desert where a dozen paleontologists are hiking, looking for signs of long-ago life.

It also wears many names — the African desert banana, the crane lily — but formally, it is known as Strelitzia reginae and is one of five species of Strelitzia.

“No one deserves the fate of being executed and then set on fire in the middle of the desert in a desperate attempt by a killer to cover up his crimes.”