Animals undergo morphological changes in response to climate change

According to a study released this Wednesday, climate change is causing some animals to change their morphology with larger cranes or ears.

The study, published in the journal “Trends in Ecology and Evolution”, was conducted by scientists at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia.

“It’s time to recognize that animals also need to adapt to these changes, but this is happening in a shorter time than expected from an evolutionary perspective,” said Sarah Riding, the project’s lead researcher.

In particular, the study highlights changes in birds.

Australian parrot a Crane increase From 1871 four to 10%, as well as the dark-eyed reeds (a small singing bird) of North America, saw their cranes grow. In addition to the evolution of cranes in birds, wood mice also showed a Increase in tails And masked Foot development.

To understand the morphological changes in animals, Sarah Riding examined samples from Australian bird museums over the past 100 years. However, the researcher warned that changes in the structure of organisms do not mean “everything is fine”.

“[A mudança] That means they are evolving to escape climate change, but we do not know the other environmental effects of the change, in fact, whether all living things are capable of doing so and surviving, “he said.