Climate change is not only a human problem, animals must also adapt to it. As the planet gets hotter, some "warm-blooded" animals are deforming, growing larger beaks, legs, and ears to better regulate body temperature. Sarah Redding, an ornithologist at Deakin University in Australia, described the changes in an article published Sept. 7 in the American journal Ecology and Evolutionary Trends.
Firefighters extinguish a fire at a fire in western Victoria, Australia, on December 20, 2019. According to the World Meteorological Organization, severe bushfire disasters in Australia are linked to a dry climate brought about by abnormal ocean temperatures. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of Victoria Fire Department/Photo by Wayne Riggs)
Reading points out that climate change is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that occurs gradually, making it difficult to point out just a single cause of deformation. But these changes occur over vast geographic areas and in a variety of different species, and they have little in common other than climate change.
The deformation of birds is particularly prominent. Since 1871, the beak size of several parrots in Australia has increased by an average of 4 to 10 per cent, which is positively correlated with annual summer temperatures. The North American dim-eyed bulbul is a small songbird whose enlarged beak is linked to short-term temperature extremes in cold environments.
There are reports of changes in mammals as well. The researchers reported that the tail length of the forest rat increased, while the tail and legs of the flower-faced shrew became larger.
"We're currently seeing small increases in appendages, less than 10 percent, so these changes are less likely to be noticed immediately." Reading said.
Next, Reading intends to conduct a first-hand study of this variation through three-dimensional scanning of Australian bird specimens from the past 100 years in the museum. This will allow her team to better understand which birds have changed their appendages as a result of climate change and the reasons for the changes.
"Deformation doesn't mean animals are adapting to climate change, it doesn't mean everything is 'good,'" Reading said, "it just means they're evolving to survive." But we're not sure what the other ecological consequences of these changes are, or whether all species have the ability to change and survive. ”
(Original title: New study: Climate change is prompting animals to "deform")
Source: Xinhua News Agency
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