Surviving Cold Conditions

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Surviving Cold Conditions This essay will discuss the two types of foxes, the British red fox and the arctic fox. I will mainly focus on how animals adapt to living in hot and cold climates, how the surface area affects temperature loss, how also the volume: ratio affects heat loss and furthermore how to calculate the surface area to volume: ratio? These are the main points that will be conversed in the thesis. How animals adapt to living in cold climates? Initially, Arctic foxes are very well adapted to cold climates. For instance, they have their thick, white fur to keep them warm and their small, white, rounded ears and shorter muzzle which helps reduce heat loss. Also, the small white ears help keep the snow out of their ears and also this helps them to hear well. The ears also have a smaller surface area and so less heat is transferred to the environment. Arctic foxes also have a thick fur tail which is used for warmth in cold conditions. They furthermore have thick fur lining and a thick pad on their feet, this stops the paws getting cold and there is an increased blood circulation to the feet which stops the fox's paws freezing to the ice. They have shorter legs which spread the body weight making it easier for the animal to not descend in the snow. Furthermore, in the summer the arctic fox has brown colour fur which helps to make the fox indistinguishable when foxhunting in the long grass. This is a good use for camouflage. Another thing is Arctic foxes do not have to raise their metabolic rates as much as British red foxes do at low temperatures. The thick fur is very dense and a good heat insulation, which is so effective that Arctic foxes can preserve their normal body temperatures of (38°C) even when the temperature of the environment falls to (−80°C). The British red foxes are adapted to temperature climates, it has a body tolerance. These types of

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