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The Arctic fox's adaptations to cold are pretty amazing. It's smaller (and therefore has a lower surface area to volume ratio to minimise heat loss), has a low metabolic rate
(and therefore is highly efficient in how it uses energy), and its fur is the most insulating of all mammals. It also has a vascular heat exchange system in its legs to
reduce heat loss at extremities and maintain core body temperature and has a network of capillaries in its foot pads to allow it to stand on ice (like the fellow in this image)
in temperatures of minus 30, 40, 50 and below.
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