Penguin heat-retention structures evolved in a greenhouse Earth
Penguins (Sphenisciformes) inhabit some of the most extreme environments on Earth. The 60+ Myr fossil record of penguins spans an interval that witnessed dramatic shifts in Cenozoic ocean temperatures and currents, indicating a long interplay between penguin evolution and environmental change. Perha...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3097858 2023-05-15T13:31:14+02:00 Penguin heat-retention structures evolved in a greenhouse Earth Thomas, Daniel B. Ksepka, Daniel T. Fordyce, R. Ewan 2011-06-23 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3097858 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21177693 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0993 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3097858 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21177693 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0993 This Journal is © 2010 The Royal Society Palaeontology Text 2011 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0993 2013-09-03T14:51:46Z Penguins (Sphenisciformes) inhabit some of the most extreme environments on Earth. The 60+ Myr fossil record of penguins spans an interval that witnessed dramatic shifts in Cenozoic ocean temperatures and currents, indicating a long interplay between penguin evolution and environmental change. Perhaps the most celebrated example is the successful Late Cenozoic invasion of glacial environments by crown clade penguins. A major adaptation that allows penguins to forage in cold water is the humeral arterial plexus, a vascular counter-current heat exchanger (CCHE) that limits heat loss through the flipper. Fossil evidence reveals that the humeral plexus arose at least 49 Ma during a ‘Greenhouse Earth’ interval. The evolution of the CCHE is therefore unrelated to global cooling or development of polar ice sheets, but probably represents an adaptation to foraging in subsurface waters at temperate latitudes. As global climate cooled, the CCHE was key to invasion of thermally more demanding environments associated with Antarctic ice sheets. Text Antarc* Antarctic PubMed Central (PMC) Antarctic Biology Letters 7 3 461 464 |
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Palaeontology |
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Palaeontology Thomas, Daniel B. Ksepka, Daniel T. Fordyce, R. Ewan Penguin heat-retention structures evolved in a greenhouse Earth |
topic_facet |
Palaeontology |
description |
Penguins (Sphenisciformes) inhabit some of the most extreme environments on Earth. The 60+ Myr fossil record of penguins spans an interval that witnessed dramatic shifts in Cenozoic ocean temperatures and currents, indicating a long interplay between penguin evolution and environmental change. Perhaps the most celebrated example is the successful Late Cenozoic invasion of glacial environments by crown clade penguins. A major adaptation that allows penguins to forage in cold water is the humeral arterial plexus, a vascular counter-current heat exchanger (CCHE) that limits heat loss through the flipper. Fossil evidence reveals that the humeral plexus arose at least 49 Ma during a ‘Greenhouse Earth’ interval. The evolution of the CCHE is therefore unrelated to global cooling or development of polar ice sheets, but probably represents an adaptation to foraging in subsurface waters at temperate latitudes. As global climate cooled, the CCHE was key to invasion of thermally more demanding environments associated with Antarctic ice sheets. |
format |
Text |
author |
Thomas, Daniel B. Ksepka, Daniel T. Fordyce, R. Ewan |
author_facet |
Thomas, Daniel B. Ksepka, Daniel T. Fordyce, R. Ewan |
author_sort |
Thomas, Daniel B. |
title |
Penguin heat-retention structures evolved in a greenhouse Earth |
title_short |
Penguin heat-retention structures evolved in a greenhouse Earth |
title_full |
Penguin heat-retention structures evolved in a greenhouse Earth |
title_fullStr |
Penguin heat-retention structures evolved in a greenhouse Earth |
title_full_unstemmed |
Penguin heat-retention structures evolved in a greenhouse Earth |
title_sort |
penguin heat-retention structures evolved in a greenhouse earth |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3097858 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21177693 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0993 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3097858 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21177693 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0993 |
op_rights |
This Journal is © 2010 The Royal Society |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0993 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
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7 |
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3 |
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461 |
op_container_end_page |
464 |
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1766016943467266048 |