As Earth gets hotter, many warm-blooded creatures are evolving larger beaks, ears and legs to allow them to better regulate their body temperature, a study found.
Appendages like birds' beaks and mammalian ears can be used to dissipate excess body heat, with such tending to be larger in warmer climates.
Experts led from Australia's Deakin University reviewed past studies into various species that are changing shape, finding that climate change may be to blame.
They found evidence of changes in appendage sizes of up to 10 per cent, a figure expected to continue to grow as our planet warms further.
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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
'A lot of the time when climate change is discussed in mainstream media, people are asking "can humans overcome this?", or "what technology can solve this?" ' commented paper author and ecologist Sara Ryding of Deakin University.
'It's high time we recognised that animals also have to adapt to these changes, but this is occurring over a far shorter timescale than would have occurred through most of evolutionary time.
'The climate change that we have created is heaping a whole lot of pressure on them, and while some species will adapt, others will not.'
In their study, Ms Ryding and colleagues
