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Such organisms (frogs, for example) rely on environmental heat sources, [3] which permit them to operate at very economical metabolic rates. [4] Some of these animals live in environments where temperatures are practically constant, as is typical of regions of the abyssal ocean and hence can be regarded as homeothermic ectotherms.
The honey bee, for example, does so by contracting antagonistic flight muscles without moving its wings (see insect thermoregulation). [ 18 ] [ 19 ] [ 20 ] This form of thermogenesis is, however, only efficient above a certain temperature threshold, and below about 9–14 °C (48–57 °F), the honey bee reverts to ectothermy.
Many ectotherms exploit the heat produced by endotherms by sharing their nests and burrows. For example, mammal burrows are used by geckos and seabird burrows by Australian tiger snakes and New Zealand tuatara. [13] Termites create high and regulated temperatures in their mounds, and this is exploited by some species of lizards, snakes and ...
Gigantothermy (sometimes called ectothermic homeothermy or inertial homeothermy) is a phenomenon with significance in biology and paleontology, whereby large, bulky ectothermic animals are more easily able to maintain a constant, relatively high body temperature than smaller animals by virtue of their smaller surface-area-to-volume ratio. [1]
The term 'mesothermy' was originally coined [6] to advocate for an intermediate status of non-avian dinosaur thermoregulation, between endotherms and ectotherms. A more technical definition was provided by Grady et al , [ 7 ] who argued for dinosaur mesothermy on the basis of their intermediate growth rates , and the empirical relationship ...
As ectotherms are usually small and unable to store their own body heat, they quickly take on the external temperature of the environment, which necessitates controlled microenvironments. For example, while reptiles are able to operate at temperatures exceeding optima, they become sluggish when cold.
The common frog is a poikilotherm and is able to function over a wide range of body core temperatures.. A poikilotherm (/ ˈ p ɔɪ k ə l ə ˌ θ ɜːr m, p ɔɪ ˈ k ɪ l ə ˌ θ ɜːr m /) is an animal (Greek poikilos – 'various', 'spotted', and therme – 'heat') whose internal temperature varies considerably.
A similar example is given by the Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis), which, when acclimated to temperatures of 26 °C, produced a significantly higher amount of taurine, glutamate, GABA and glycine compared to acclimation to 12 °C. This may mean that the aforementioned compounds aid in antioxidant defense, osmoregulatory processes, or ...