Giant bill generates big interest “A new kind of heating bill.”
“Who can cool his body fast? Toucan.” “Toucan’s bill gives big
chill.” Those are just a few of the colourful headlines Glenn
Tattersall’s work at Brock University generated recently when
the results of his study were published in the prestigious
journal Science. Tattersall, an associate professor in
Biological Sciences, found that Toco Toucans use their bills to
regulate their body temperature. “An elephant uses its ears to
dump heat,” Tattersall said. “Mice use their tails. Toucans use
their bills.” Tattersall’s study in Sao Paulo, Brazil with Denis
V. Andrade and Augusto S. Abe of Sao Paulo State University,
began in 2005. He studied six birds, some of whom were “quite
gregarious.” By examining thousands of thermal images, he found
a toucan’s giant bill, with its expanding and contracting blood
vessels, acts as a heat exchange organ. “These photographs help
us see if an animal is heat stressed or not, due to changes in
their environment,” he sa