Pictures reveal how animals keep warm

[Al-khiyal]

Heat seekers:
Pictures reveal how animals keep warm

February 6, 2008 -- It might look like an artwork, a surreal photo-negative based on the natural world, but this is a very real photograph, taken at London Zoo using a camera that detects only heat. In it, a pelican wanders away from a pool of water, leaving a trail of warmer footprints behind it. Its body stays warm under a covering of feathers, leaving it looking dark blue to the camera, which only detects the infra-red radiation coming off the animal.

The photo is one of a set released by the zoo yesterday, showing the ways animals use fur, feathers and hair to insulate themselves and keep warm in the winter. Other pictures include a lion using his mane to keep his head warm and a shot of the delicate veins of warmth in a butterfly's wings.

The photographs were taken using a FLIR thermal imaging camera by a zoo visitor, amateur photographer Steve Lowe.

Zoological director David Field said: "While these amazing pictures may be more reminiscent of something from the Tate Modern, they give us a unique perspective on how animals regulate their body temperatures."

[Al-khiyal]

This photo of a butterfly shows the veins in its wings


In the case of flamingoes, heat escapes only through one leg


A pelican leaves a trail of warm footprints


The cold nose of this sloth is clearly visible
as it clambers through its 'Rainforest Lookout'


The dark stripes on these zebra
clearly show up as warmer than the white areas
because they absorb heat instead of reflecting it


This lion's mane is allowing very little heat to escape


Silvery marmosets


A South-African black-footed penguin


For this Mexican red-kneed bird-eating spider,
the tips of its feet are the coldest areas


The spider looks very cold compared with the zookeeper holding it


These sacred ibises are well insulated,
losing heat only through their heads and legs


Asian short-clawed otters


Coarse hair on this warthog's back helps keep him cool

[Bent_Bladi]

sub7anAllah... the ~magic~ of homeostasis

Thanks for sharing bro...