Climate Change Is Forcing Animals to Quickly 'Shape-Shift,' Study Suggests

[UngulateNerd92]

Scientists are noticing widespread body-part growth in animals and believe human-caused climate change is the likely reason.

Climate change is causing animals around the world to “shape-shift” in order to better survive rising global temperatures caused by human consumption of fossil fuels, reports a new study.

Scientists have been monitoring the impact of climate change on wildlife for many decades and have established that hotter temperatures will cause some species to shrink, lose fertility, and in some cases, die out completely. Past research has also established that animals in warmer climates tend to evolve larger appendages associated with dissipating body heat, a phenomenon known as Allen’s rule.

Climate Change Is Forcing Animals to Quickly 'Shape-Shift,' Study Suggests

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Here is another relevant article.

New research reveals animals are changing their body shapes to cope with climate change

Global warming is a big challenge for warm-blooded animals, which must maintain a constant internal body temperature. As anyone who’s experienced heatstroke can tell you, our bodies become severely stressed when we overheat.

Animals are dealing with global warming in various ways. Some move to cooler areas, such as closer to the poles or to higher ground. Some change the timing of key life events such as breeding and migration, so they take place at cooler times. And others evolve to change their body size to cool down more quickly.

Our new research examined another way animal species cope with climate change: by changing the size of their ears, tails, beaks and other appendages. We reviewed the published literature and found examples of animals increasing appendage size in parallel with climate change and associated temperature increases.

In doing so, we identified multiple examples of animals that are most likely “shape-shifters” – including species in Australia. The pattern is widespread, and suggests climate warming may result in fundamental changes to animal form.

New research reveals animals are changing their body shapes to cope with climate change

 

[UngulateNerd92]

I shared these articles with a friend of mine, and he had this to say. He has valid points...

"Some animals, and in limited ways. And many animals will not "cope" with climate change and many will perish, especially with destruction of their habitats. The title of this article seems misleading."