Owls, on the other hand, can rotate their necks up to 270 degrees in either direction without damaging the vessels running below their heads, and they can do it without cutting off blood supply to their brains. Blood vessel tears caused by sudden twisting motions produce clots that can break off, sometimes causing an embolism or stroke that could prove fatal. In humans, such injuries can be common: whiplash sustained in a car accident, a back-and-forth jarring roller coaster ride or even a chiropractic maneuver gone wrong. They’re highly susceptible to minor tears and stretches of vessel linings. The carotid and vertebral arteries in the neck of most animals, including owls and humans, are delicate and fragile structures. A poster depicting these findings won first place in the 2012 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, the journal Science announced yesterday. Philippe Gailloud, an interventional neuroradiologist at Johns Hopkins and a senior researcher on the study, in a statement. “Until now, brain imaging specialists like me who deal with human injuries caused by trauma to arteries in the head and neck have always been puzzled as to why rapid, twisting head movements did not leave thousands of owls lying dead on the forest floor from stroke,” said Dr. They have a complex, adaptive network of protective blood vessels that make the structures in our necks look puny–a network that researchers have now dissected, mapped and illustrated for the first time. Photo via Flickr user The RocketeerĮver wonder how owls can turn their heads almost all the way around? ![]() This barred owl shares an adaptation with other owl species that allows it to rotate its head 270 degrees without damaging blood vessels in the neck.
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