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As described in a new paper published in Science, it’s all thanks to specialized networks of blood vessels known as “retia mirabilia.”

Vogl speculates that the ancestors of cetaceans probably had retia mirabilia leading to the brain before they ever took to the oceans—but that this network served a different purpose on land.

Flamingos are a classic example of animals that benefit from retia mirabilia, Kienle says.

Indeed, retia mirabilia resemble complex stringy nets made up of thin veins and thick arteries.

In most animals that have them, retia mirabilia serve as a mechanism for temperature regulation, and they have a unique structure.