Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A mesotherm (from Greek μέσος mesos "intermediate" and thermē "heat") is a type of animal with a thermoregulatory strategy intermediate to cold-blooded ectotherms and warm-blooded endotherms. Definition
The term is derived from two Greek words meaning "having a moderate amount of heat." This can be misinterpreted, however, since the term is actually intended to describe only the temperature conditions that prevail during the winter months, rather than those for the year as a whole.
Thermographic image: a cold-blooded snake is shown eating a warm-blooded mouse. Warm-blooded is an informal term referring to animal species whose bodies maintain a temperature higher than that of their environment.
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature as its own body temperature, thus avoiding the need for internal thermoregulation.
Heterothermy or heterothermia (from Greek ἕτερος heteros "other" and θέρμη thermē "heat") is a physiological term for animals that vary between self-regulating their body temperature, and allowing the surrounding environment to affect it.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
Various patterns of behavior enable certain ectotherms to regulate body temperature to a useful extent. To warm up, reptiles and many insects find sunny places and adopt positions that maximise their exposure; at harmfully high temperatures they seek shade or cooler water.
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.