Climate change is causing some animals to "shape shift"

[canetoad]

Climate change means bigger bills - and ears and tails as well

https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-change-means-bigger-bills-and-ears-and-tails-as-well-20210907-p58pg6.html

Climate change is causing some animals to “shape shift” and grow larger extremities such as beaks, ears and tails, an Australian review of global scientific research has revealed, as the creatures adapt to hotter temperatures.

The study, by Deakin University bird expert and PhD student Sara Ryding, shows these changes have been occurring across wide geographical regions and among an array of unrelated, warm-blooded species.

“Shape-shifting does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and everything is fine,” Ms Ryder said.

“One of the most surprising and alarming aspects of this research is that the climate change humans have caused is forcing animals to make drastic changes over a short period of time.”

Ms Ryder said that because climate change is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, it has been difficult to pinpoint just one cause of the shape-shifting.

As Earth gets hotter, many warm-blooded creatures are evolving larger beaks, ears and legs to allow them to better regulate their body temperatures, a study found. Pictured: thermal imaging of two Galapagos finches (Geospiza fortis, left, and Geospiza fuliginosa, right) shows how the birds radiate heat via their beaks and legs

Trends in Ecology & Evolution
https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(21)00197-X

Shape-shifting: changing animal morphologies as a response to climatic warming

Highlights

Appendages have an important, but often undervalued, role in animal thermoregulation as sites of heat exchange.
This thermoregulatory role leads to geographic clines in animal morphology where animals at lower latitudes, in warmer climates, have larger appendages (a pattern known as ‘Allen’s rule’).
Animals are shifting their morphologies to have proportionately larger appendages in response to climate change and its associated temperature increases.
This proportional increase in relative appendage size, and therefore subsequent change in body proportions, can be referred to as ‘shape-shifting’ and is an underappreciated response to climatic warming.

Many animal appendages, such as avian beaks and mammalian ears, can be used to dissipate excess body heat. Allen’s rule, wherein animals in warmer climates have larger appendages to facilitate more efficient heat exchange, reflects this. We find that there is widespread evidence of ‘shape-shifting’ (changes in appendage size) in endotherms in response to climate change and its associated climatic warming. We re-examine studies of morphological change over time within a thermoregulatory context, finding evidence that temperature can be a strong predictor of morphological change independently of, or combined with, other environmental changes. Last, we discuss how Allen’s rule, the degree of temperature change, and other ecological factors facilitate morphological change and make predictions about what animals will show shape-shifting.

[Tanuki]

1. This reminded me of Jonathan Weiner's outstanding book

The Beak of the Finch

[Grokenstein]

2. Earth: "I'll be fine. I was here long before you were."

Republicans: "Haw haw, we're destroying your precious Earth! Look, Jim's got a snowball! That proves your 'climate change' bullshit is fake news!"

(floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, heatwaves, and other natural reactions become the norm)

Republicans: "This is all Democrats' fault! They should've tried harder to convince us!!"

[ChubbyStar]

3. I hope Republicans shape shift

Into the massive piles of shit they actually are.

[Hekate]

4. Fascinating, sad, & horrifying all at the same time. Our species can be such fools...

I often think of us humans as “clever monkeys,” because our inventiveness and our overall lack of long range thinking combined can be really hazardous to all around us.

[Hortensis]

5. I suppose it's happened over several decades, but still seems so fast.

Nature is amazingly impressive and never runs out of surprises. Thanks, Canetoad.

[chowder66]

6. The better to peck your brains out, my dear. nt

[roamer65]

7. Natural selection at work.

I would assume same was true in the Cretaceous, when CO2 levels were 1000-1500 ppm.

[harumph]

8. Will our peckers get bigger? Just askin.