Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Science

Shrews exhibit reversible size changes in their skulls and noses to get through the winter

Scientists had previously observed that some species of shrews undergo a form of biological plasticity in which their bodies, skulls, brains and some organs shrink in the winter, then regrow in the spring. Now, a new study in Japan, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sci...

Shrews exhibit reversible size changes in their skulls and noses to get through the winter
Image: Phys.org
Scientists had previously observed that some species of shrews undergo a form of biological plasticity in which their bodies, skulls, brains and some organs shrink in the winter, then regrow in the spring. Now, a new study in Japan, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, has taken a closer look at this phenomenon and found that shrews' snouts exhibit an inverse effect, growing and then shrinking again.

Originally published at Phys.org

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