Biological Plasticity in Penguin Heat‐Retention Structures

@article{Thomas2012BiologicalPI,
  title={Biological Plasticity in Penguin Heat‐Retention Structures},
  author={Daniel B. Thomas and R. Ewan Fordyce},
  journal={The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology},
  year={2012},
  volume={295}
}
  • Daniel B. ThomasR. Fordyce
  • Published 1 February 2012
  • Biology
  • The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology
Insulation and vascular heat‐retention mechanisms allow penguins to forage for a prolonged time in water that is much cooler than core body temperature. Wing‐based heat retention involves a plexus of humeral arteries and veins, which redirect heat to the body core rather than to the wing periphery. The humeral arterial plexus is described here for Eudyptes and Megadyptes, the only extant penguin genera for which wing vascular anatomy had not previously been reported. The erect‐crested (Eudyptes… 
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