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#cold-blooded

3 public questions tagged with this topic.

Adaptation

Which is a characteristic of poikilotherms?

Poikilotherms experience substantial fluctuations in body temperature, often because their heat exchange is strongly coupled to ambient conditions. Most are ectothermic and obtain heat from sunlight, warm surfaces, air, or water rather than sustaining high internal heat production. Their metabolic, locomotor, digestive, and developmental rates consequently change with temperature. Many compensate behaviourally by basking, entering shade, burrowing, or shifting activity time, so a fluctuating temperature does not imply absence of all regulation. Energy efficiency can also characterize ectotherm

Ref: Evolutionary Analysis, Herron & Freeman, 5th Ed., Ch. 10

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Adaptation

Animals that cannot regulate body temperature are called:

Poikilotherms show substantial variation in body temperature, usually because environmental heat strongly influences them. Most fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates fit this description. “Poikilothermic” is often paired with “ectothermic,” but the terms are not identical: ectothermy refers to the primary source of heat, whereas poikilothermy refers to variability in body temperature. These animals may regulate temperature behaviourally by basking, seeking shade, changing posture, burrowing, or moving between water layers, so saying that they cannot regulate temperature at all is an

Ref: Evolutionary Analysis, Herron & Freeman, 5th Ed., Ch. 10

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