Hugging trees helps koalas to keep cool, a study has revealed.
In a study published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, scientists used thermal cameras to reveal that, in hotter weather, the animals moved to the lower, cooler parts of the trees.
They also pressed their bodies even closer to the trunks.
Photo: EPA
照片：歐新社
The team, led by researchers from the University of Melbourne, was studying how koalas regulated their temperature.
This is part of a wider research project investigating the effect of climate on land-dwelling animals in Australia, a country which experienced an extreme heat wave earlier this year.
While doctoral student Natalie Briscoe was studying the koalas’ behaviour, she noticed that in the winter the animals would stay high in the trees.
In the hotter summer weather though, they would move down.
However, measurements of the temperatures of the tree trunks showed that, on days as hot as 39 degrees Celsius, they were up to seven degrees cooler than the air.
“That’s what made us wonder if the koalas were using the trees as a heat sink,” said Michael Kearney from the University of Melbourne.
(Courtesy of Liberty Times)
抱著樹幹幫助無尾熊保持涼爽，一份研究揭露。
在刊登於英國皇家學會學報《生物學期刊》的研究中，科學家利用熱視覺相機發現，在酷熱的天氣，這些動物會移動至低處，亦即樹幹較低溫的區塊。
牠們也會讓身體與樹幹更為靠近。
由澳洲墨爾本大學領導的研究團隊正針對無尾熊如何控制其體溫進行研究。
這是一項調查氣候對澳洲陸棲動物影響的更大型研究計畫中的一個部分，澳洲在今年稍早經歷極端熱浪侵襲。
當博士班學生娜塔莉‧布里斯科正在鑽研無尾熊的習性時，她發現在冬天的時候，這些動物會待在樹木的高處。
然而在炎熱的夏天天氣，牠們會往低處移動。
但測量樹幹溫度後顯示，在攝氏三十九度高溫的日子，牠們的體溫比氣溫低七度。
「這讓我們納悶，無尾熊是否將樹木作為散熱器」，墨爾本大學的基爾尼教授說。
（自由時報國際新聞中心）
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