BIOL 1902 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Rete Mirabile, Rodent, Cold Days
23 May 2015
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Component 2: elemental solutions cont"d: temperature extremes cont"d, sub-zero temperatures cont"d. Make feet/tail cooler then rest of the body so that no heat is lost when touching snow or ice. Have a special network of veins and arteries in the base (top) of the leg or tail (arteries carry warm blood out to body from heart, veins take cold blood back). These arteries and veins branch out down the leg forming a net where the smaller arteries/veins touch and wrap around each other. Arteries and veins touch so that the warm blood in arteries is cooled down and cold blood in veins is heated up. Can turn off this system in the summer when they want to cool down by redirecting blood flow. Beaver"s feet and tail, otter"s feet, bird feet: most northern animals have all the above mentioned color, body size, extremity size, and rete mirabile characteristics for story heat.
