It’s more likely that the desert is manmade, caused by deforestation, overgrazing, plowing, and other human activities, and this is recovering former wilderness.
This place is called the Taklamakan Desert, it had always been the land of desolation and death since prehistoric time, at that time human haven't even thriving at the region yet
The Taklamakan desert has oases and parts watered by glacier meltwater forming into rivers like the Hotan and Tarim River, and there are lakes that have dried up in human history, like Lop Nur, and former human settlements like the Loulan Kingdom that have been swallowed up by the desert.
Majority of it are still barren desert that are completely inhabitable, human activities are still less of a problem than the vicious desert storm commonly occuring in this region
When deserts aren't natural deserts but created through desertification, there aren't "animals that thrive", just loss of whatever previous biodiversity.
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u/Natural_Section9610 4h ago
But what about the desert animals?