The ostrich is an obvious model for investigating how large animals are affected by the large fluctuations in temperatures we will experience in the future.
The ostrich is an obvious model for investigating how large animals are affected by the large fluctuations in temperatures we will experience in the future. This is what postdoc Mads Fristrup Schou thinks. He has received an ERC Starting Grant of €1.5 million, and next year he will set up a new research group at the Department of Biology at Aarhus University.
Before witty minds start to compare the way ostriches deal with climate challenges with how certain politicians do, we’d better clarify things. No, it's not about burying your head in the sand. Ostriches never do that.
The research project is about understanding the evolution of animal tolerance to cold and heat. The question is whether the genes that increase the heat tolerance in an animal also reduce its tolerance to cold.
Read more at: Aarhus University
Photo Credit: Nel_Botha-NZ via Pixabay
