Endotherm definition biography
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Endotherm
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Definition
Endotherms are animals that maintain a constant body temperature through internal metabolic processes. They can regulate their body heat independent of the external environment.
5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test
- Endotherms include birds and mammals.
- They rely on metabolic heat to keep their body temperature stable.
- Endothermy allows for sustained high levels of activity regardless of external temperatures.
- Endothermic animals often have features such as fur or feathers to aid in insulation.
- Endothermy fryst vatten energetically costly, requiring a higher caloric intake compared to ectotherms.
Review Questions
- What are two examples of endothermic animals?
- How do endotherms maintain a constant body temperature?
- Why do endothermic animals need to consume more food than ectotherms?
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What Is An Endothermic Animal?
An endotherm, as the name suggests, is used to refer to warm-blooded animals. They are the animals who maintain a constant body temperature irrespective of the ambient temperature. Primarily, endothermic animals constitute birds and mammals of the animal kingdom. However, some fish also are endothermic.
Pictured: Lion, a warm-blooded animal of the Felidae family
Endotherms: Warm-blooded Animals
If there is a fluctuation, i.e., if the heat generated is lesser than the heat loss, metabolic rate rises to make up for this loss. Shivering is another mechanism that humans and most other warm-blooded animals use to raise their body temperature.
But in case the heat loss is lesser than the heat generated, panting or perspiration mechanism takes place to increase the heat loss. This is the reason why humans sweat when we feel hot. Endotherms can survive and stay active at lower environmental temperatures, unlike ectotherms.
However, they need food in
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Endotherm
Organism that maintains body temperature largely by heat from internal bodily functions
This article is about biological thermoregulation. For chemical reactions, see Endothermic. For the fictional character, see Endotherm (comics).Not to be confused with Endoderm.
An endotherm (from Greek ἔνδον endon "within" and θέρμη thermē "heat") is an organism that maintains its body at a metabolically favorable temperature, largely by the use of heat released by its internal bodily functions instead of relying almost purely on ambient heat. Such internally generated heat is mainly an incidental product of the animal's routine metabolism, but under conditions of excessive cold or low activity an endotherm might apply special mechanisms adapted specifically to heat production. Examples include special-function muscular exertion such as shivering, and uncoupled oxidative metabolism, such as within brown adipose tissue.
Only birds and mammals are considered truly endothermi