When you hear the word "shapeshifting (变身) ", you may think of magic in some movies and not the climate (气候) . But that's what animals are doing to go on living in the world.
A new study suggests that some animals are slowly growing larger beaks (喙) , legs and ears. In this way they can cool themselves down more easily as the earth gets warmer. When we talk about the climate change, we often ask "What can humans do with this?" or "How can we live in the future?". "But we should know that animals also have to face these changes," said Sara Ryding, from Deakin University, Australia. "If animals do nothing to keep their normal body temperature, they will die."
In one example, the beaks of some kinds of Australian parrots (鹦鹉) have grown 4 to 10 percent larger. The study says it has a lot to do with the hotter summer over the years. There are other similar examples. Wood mice have longer tails and bats (蝙蝠) in warm climates have bigger wings.
Although the changes are still small, they could be common as the weather becomes hotter. "Body parts like ears may become bigger, so we might be able to see a real Dumbo (big-eared elephant from a Disney cartoon) in the near future," Ryding told the reporters.
