How do Owl's Rotate Their Heads So Far Without Snapping Their Necks - Science Journal Entry Three

Since the eyes of an owl do not move, owls are restricted to tunnel vision unless they can rotate their heads. Owls can rotate their heads 270 degrees, or three quarters of the way around, which no other bird, or human can do. Scientists have been wondering what allows the owls to be able to accomplish this feat for years. By studying dead owls, researchers have finally come to some conclusions on why owls are able to turn their heads so far. Firstly, the holes in the owl’s vertebrae are 10 times larger than the vertebral artery that is threaded through it. This may allow for extra “wiggle room” for the owl to move their heads. Also, the vertebral artery for owls enter the base of the neck a bit higher than in other birds, giving them extra room to move their heads. Secondly, the owls have expandable jaw arteries. The arteries for most animals get smaller as their distance gets further away from the source of blood, but the owl has three arteries in its jaw, allowing for ample blood flow to the owls head when it is rotated, blocking fresh blood from the owls heart to flow to its head. Finally, owls have some of their arteries in their brains “linked by a tiny channel.” This provides another route for the blood to flow into the owl’s head if one of the arteries is blocked.

I chose this article because I wanted to know more about how owls can move their necks so much without breaking their heads off. Owls can rotate their heads from 180 to 270 degrees depending on the kind of the owl. Currently, most human beings can only rotate their heads 90 degrees. Of course, there will be a couple of outliers who can somehow turn their necks further than normal humans. This property of owls makes them quite interesting to me. Unfortunately, owls have tunnel vision, and cannot see around them without having to move their head around. This could be one of the reasons that owls learned the skill of owls turning their heads 270 degrees.

This information seems to be scientifically correct. From the diagrams in the article, it looks like the biological facts about the owl that are described in the text are all correct. It is interesting how only a larger hole can lead to the owls head turning 180 degrees more than the average human head. I always thought that the owl’s larger range of head motion was due to some kind of increased elasticity around the neck.

One question I have after reading this article is; how quickly would it take humans to adapt to new circumstances? If I took a group of people and told them to do something for long enough, how long would it take for them to adapt so that that action becomes second nature? Does the human body adapt only for major changes or can it also make minute adjustments depending on factors such as living environment, quality of life etc. Also, I wonder what would happen if I tried to turn my head more than 90 degrees every day. If I do it for long enough, could I potentially be able to turn my head more than 90 degrees. If I keep at this every day, would the next generation of humans related to me be able to do this too? 

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