Question

a)         A rabbit feels warm to you because its body temperature is about 39.4 ^oC (103 ^oF.) If you look at its big ears, you’ll notice many small blood vessels near the surface. What purpose do they serve?

            b)         As you travel farther and farther north (toward Alaska and Canada) you’ll notice that the various species of wild rabbits and foxes have smaller and smaller ears. Why should this be the case?

Answer 1

a. a rabbit has higher body temperature than the surroundings usually, and hence it needs to keep radiating this heat in order to not feel too hot. so the blood vessels inthe large ears of rabbits help in distribution of heat to the environment efficiently

b. as we move further towards the poles, the outside temeprature drops and this means the rabbits lose more energy per usit time, and hence to compensate for this extra power loss, the ears of rabbits here are smaller in order to release less heat from the body surface