When the heat is hot, the Toco toucan does not need air conditioning. Its beak , which takes up a third of its body, is the best refrigerator nature has ever invented, according to a study published this week in Science .
For decades, ornithologists have wondered why the toucans of South America needed such a disproportionate beak. Maybe it was a sexual sign? A special adaptation for peeling fruits? A weapon? To solve the enigma, a group of researchers led by Glenn Tattersall, from Brock University in St. Catharines (Canada), decided to photograph these birds with heat-sensitive cameras. In this way they verified that the beak contains many blood vessels . And that by altering the flow that reaches the surface of the beak, Toco toucans can conserve body heat in cold weather or cope with the stress of tropical heat . For example, they have observed that when the sun goes down, the bird is able to lower its body temperature by 10º Celsius to sleep in a matter of minutes, as this video shows.
After the discovery, the scientists suspect that it is possible that some dinosaurs also used long bone structures to regulate their body temperature.
