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So I have what's basically an alternate realistic version of Hyness from Kirby Star Allies's species. I have designed them as furry blue humanoids on a cold planet. There are many large predators dwelling with them in the frosty forests. Those chameleonish eyes help a great deal. But I'm focusing on the nose. It looks a lot like a proboscis monkey's. I know proboscis monkey noses can make loud sounds, but would the shape assist with warming air as they breathe it in like a reindeer's nose does? I'm wondering if the same nose structure would allow for both functions.

How does the nose's inside structure need to be like?

Also would bigger ears be not as good in cold climates?

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    $\begingroup$ Big ears are usually that way in order to shed heat, which is why you tend to see them on desert animals like fennec foxes and elephants. In cold weather, extremities are the first body parts to succumb to frostbite. "Not as good" is an understatement. $\endgroup$
    – Matthew
    Jan 6, 2020 at 16:24

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The issue with the overhanging nose extension of the proboscis monkeys is that it is not directly involved in the air path into the respiratory system. Having a large, heavily insulated bulb near the air entry is a good start, but the inbound gases should pass into it, not under and around it. Entering into the bulb, the air should find itself surrounded by a high-temperature network of arteries which receive their blood from a heart mounted as close as possible to the heat-producing digestive systems. By the time the air gets past that vascular network, its' temperature should be raised to a level which will facilitate oxygen absorption by the lungs. Equally important, the exhalation path should differ from that of inhalation, so that the high temperature vascular network only looses heat to incoming air. The exhalation pathway should somehow cool the air flow, absorbing any excess heat back into the body prior to the air's release.

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    $\begingroup$ Given a long nose, could one have heat exchange between the exhaust and the incoming air before it reaches the blood vessels? The outgoing air is cooler than body temperature but much warmer than raw, unheated air. $\endgroup$
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Jan 6, 2020 at 4:51
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    $\begingroup$ @PatriciaShanahan, That is a great improvement. Much simpler than what I proposed. Just a trunk with two passages separated by a heat permeable layer with insulation around both. Inbound air rubs up against body-heated outbound air. No special circulatory or heart location changes needed. $\endgroup$
    – Henry Taylor
    Jan 6, 2020 at 4:56
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    $\begingroup$ You may still need a blood-based system to get it all the way up to a good lung temperature, but starting with pre-warmed air. $\endgroup$
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Jan 6, 2020 at 5:02
  • $\begingroup$ This is a counter current exchange. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countercurrent_exchange $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Jan 7, 2020 at 0:24

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