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Anatomical Evidence for a Counter-current Heat Exchanger in the Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Abstract

FRAIR et al.1 have recently given strong circumstantial evidence that leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) can maintain a deep body temperature at least 18° C higher than the ambient temperature of cold water. The mechanisms underlying this differential are largely unknown but are presumed to be muscular activity combined with the thermal inertia of a large body mass and an insulating layer of subepidermal fat1. Countercurrent flows have also been suspected as a heat retention mechanism1–2 but so far have not been proved. We now present anatomical evidence for a countercurrent heat exchanger in the front and rear flippers of a leatherback turtle, which is the first evidence for this kind of heat retention mechanism in a reptile.

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References

  1. Frair, W., Ackman, R. G., Mrosovsky, N., Science, 177, 791 (1972).

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  2. Mrosovsky, N., and Pritchard, P. C. H., Copeia, 624 (1971).

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GREER, A., LAZELL, J. & WRIGHT, R. Anatomical Evidence for a Counter-current Heat Exchanger in the Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). Nature 244, 181 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/244181a0

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