The whooping crane, a long-legged native of the vast Canadian wilderness, possesses a remarkable adaptation that allows it to stand in icy lakes without its feet freezing, and it’s likely the red-crowned crane of East Asia benefits from the same adaptation, too.
The bird’s slender legs contain a network of veins that transport cool blood from the extremities up towards the heart. These veins are situated alongside arteries that conversely carry warm blood down from the body’s core.
This system of adjacent blood vessels, running in opposite directions, enables the exchange of warmth from the arteries to the cooler veins, allowing the crane to wade through frigid waters while maintaining its leg temperature.
Conversely, during the warm summer months, this mechanism also works to dissipate heat by transferring warmth from the arteries to the veins, which are cooled by the colder underwater environment.
The crane’s clever heat exchange adaptation has recently been used to develop technology that can carefully control the temperature of critically ill patients after a cardiac arrest and during severe infections. A system of thin plastic channels in a gel pad circulates cold or hot water on the surface of patients’ bodies to safely get them to any temperature needed.
Discover our series on medical innovations rooted in nature's remarkable adaptations...
From ants' pandemic tactics and koalas' digestive wisdom, to frog-based life-support systems, we explore how the animal kingdom shapes human healthcare.
We also take a look at midge-like painless injections, giraffe-inspired ventilators, white-blooded fish cold resistance, whale-mimicking heart treatments, chimpanzee-informed grief management, and longevity secrets from naked mole rats. Join us as we uncover how wildlife continues to revolutionise medicine.