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Unlike mammals and birds, some reptiles, particularly some species of python and tegu, possess seasonal reproductive endothermy in which they are endothermic only during their reproductive season. In common parlance, endotherms are characterized as " warm-blooded ".
A significant proportion of creatures commonly referred to as "warm-blooded," like birds and mammals, exhibit all three of these categories (i.e., they are endothermic, homeothermic, and tachymetabolic). However, over the past three decades, investigations in the field of animal thermophysiology have unveiled numerous species within these two ...
Endothermic Parental Care Hypothesis: This hypothesis proposes that homeothermy developed as a way to provide consistent and warm internal environments for developing embryos or young offspring. Endothermy could have enabled parents to keep their eggs or young warm, leading to improved survival rates and successful reproduction.
Bergmann's rule is most often applied to mammals and birds which are endotherms, but some researchers have also found evidence for the rule in studies of ectothermic species, [2] [3] such as the ant Leptothorax acervorum. While Bergmann's rule appears to hold true for many mammals and birds, there are exceptions. [4] [5] [6]
Nearly all mammals are endothermic ("warm-blooded"). Most mammals also have hair to help keep them warm. Like birds, mammals can forage or hunt in weather and climates too cold for ectothermic ("cold-blooded") reptiles and insects. Endothermy requires plenty of food energy, so mammals eat more food per unit of body weight than most reptiles. [139]
Most endothermic organisms are homeothermic, like mammals. However, animals with facultative endothermy are often poikilothermic, meaning their temperature can vary considerably. Most fish are ectotherms, as most of their heat comes from the surrounding water. However, almost all fish are poikilothermic. [citation needed]
The ability to maintain homeostasis at varying temperatures is the most important characteristic in defining an endothermic eurytherm, whereas other, thermoconforming eurytherms like tardigrades are simply able to endure significant shifts in their internal body temperature that occur with ambient temperature changes. [21]
Therefore, mammals and birds are assumed to have evolved relatively narrow performance breadths. [18] Thus, the heterothermy of these endotherms would lead to losses of performance during certain periods and therefore genetic variation in thermosensitivity would enable the evolution of thermal generalists in more heterothermic species. [18]