Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News


Sept. 25, 2008 -- Alaskan huskies that participate in the grueling Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race must run 1,100 miles while enduring heavy blizzards, temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit and winds up to 60 miles per hour, all of which earn the hearty canines status as the world's premier ultra-endurance animal athletes.

How do they do it? New research suggests the canines are superior to most other mammals, including humans, in at least three key areas: They are unusually adept at adapting to exercise, they have superior aerobic capacity and are unusually efficient in using food as fuel.

Michael Davis, a professor at Oklahoma State University's Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, and his team have been studying Iditarod-racing dogs for 10 years.

"Our initial interest was characterizing and finding a solution to the causes of sudden death in these athletes, and it was both scientifically necessary and financially advantageous to study the dogs that were running the race," Davis told Discovery News.

He added that as the program developed, thanks to the support of mushers, he and his colleagues started studying dogs in other races and even began to conduct simulated races that could employ more scientific controls, such as monitoring the dog's heart and lung function.