Scientists discover Namib Desert beetle cools down when running

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A species of beetle found in the Namib Desert in southern Africa is the first known land animal that gets cooler as it exercises, scientists said.

The Onymacris plana, a darkling beetle, is known for its heat-absorbing black color and its ability to sprint across the desert. Scientists were perplexed by the beetle’s speed — the fastest for an invertebrate in the desert — as most animals generate heat as they run, and because the Namib Desert dunes reach highs of 50℃.

Researchers from the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute in Namibia found that the wind generated by the beetles’ running carried away the heat they absorbed, lowering their body temperature by as much as 13℃.

“Standing still in the sun in windless conditions would have meant death by overheating,” one researcher wrote in The Conversation. “So evolution has delivered an animal that is cooled by running.”