Exciting Endothermic Animals From Around The World!

Endothermic animals are warm-blooded animals.

These animals are capable of maintaining a stable body temperature, regardless of their surroundings. Mammals and birds belonging to the animal kingdom are endotherms.

With the constant temperature change, our body tries to cope by preventing heat loss. Thus, the body of endotherms or warm-blooded animals maintains a constant body temperature. When the surrounding temperature is lower, the bodies of birds and mammals try to increase their body temperature by a sudden increase in the metabolic rate of the body. These animals also shiver, which helps to maintain body temperature in cooler climatic conditions by keeping the body warm. In reverse scenarios, when the temperature outside the body is higher due to excessive heat, the body starts sweating. Perspiration leads to water loss and produces a cooling effect on the body. To maintain an equilibrium, the body needs calories. Most of this calorie is obtained from sugar and fats, excess of which in the body is converted to glycogen and stored in the adipose tissues that surround the internal organs. The adipose tissues are fat storage tissues and provide warmth to the body. Thus, mammals with more fat experience greater warmth than the thinner ones. Further, the enzymatic reactions associated with the metabolism of food, are greatly influenced by temperature. An increased temperature acts as a catalyst and enhances the rate of biochemical reactions. Thus, the homeostasis of the body is largely dependant on environmental and climatic conditions.

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Why are there no endothermic water-breathing animals?

Oxygen homeostasis helps in regulating the body temperature of warm-blooded animals. With fluctuating temperatures, endotherms maintain a constant body temperature by increasing body heat.

This increased body heat comes from the high metabolic rate of the body. For metabolic rate to increase, oxygen is required in ample amounts. The water-breathing animals are not able to derive sufficient oxygen from water. Oxygen is found in a dissolved state in water, which makes it difficult for ectothermic animals to maintain their internal body temperatures. Most marine animal species including the invertebrates are ectotherms who are not able to metabolically maintain thermoregulation in their body.

Major Differences Between Ectothermic And Endothermic Animals

Ectothermic animals are unable to regulate their internal body temperature by metabolic thermoregulation. They possess different mechanisms to prevent heat loss. However, both the endotherms and ectotherms try to maintain a constant body temperature.

Ectothermic animals, also called poikilothermic animals, receive their body heat from the environment itself. Shivering and perspiration does not apply to these animals. Due to their underdeveloped body, they possess fewer internal organs that can not provide them with sufficient metabolic activity. Their activity is thus, limited by the environmental conditions. This transmission of heat from the external environment takes place by four different mechanisms, conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation. These processes can remove heat from the water surface and therefore, generate a cooler surface for the animals to survive. Primarily, most of the fish, amphibians, reptiles, and all invertebrates belong to the group of ectothermic animals. In contrast, endotherms maintain their body temperature by regulating their metabolic activity. Furthermore, the endotherms consume a large content of food to gain active energy. The ectotherm animals consume less food. These aquatic animals prefer to live in deep marine habitats where their body temperature remains stable and less metabolic function takes place. The endotherm animals generate body heat that accelerates their vital body processes, like muscles and neurons, leading to shivering in a cool climate and generation of sweat in a warm climate. The chemical reactions in their body produce internal heat.

What is the main challenge of endothermic animals?

The main challenge faced by the endotherms is to constantly regulate their metabolic process to maintain a stable temperature. This causes them to consume large food quantities for energy production.

This heat generation in the body with temperature regulation comes from the glucose breakdown and the conversion of glycogen. These activities require a lot of energy, which is obtained by the food intake. Further, the respiratory rate increases to enhance oxygen uptake in the body. This oxygen binds with the hemoglobin present in our blood, which is responsible for maintaining the internal temperature. Several biologic processes help these animals to keep up with their homeostasis. For example, humans sweat during hot summers, which leads to water loss and a drop in temperature. In winter, the metabolism further accelerates and the muscles help in increasing the flow of blood in our body, thereby establishing an equilibrium in the cool climates. The feathers of the birds and the fur of animals keep their body warm in winter. A group of fatty tissues, called the adipose tissue, further helps them to survive in cold.

Animals That Are Endothermic Amniotes

Amniotes are groups of vertebrates that comprise a range of mammals, reptiles, and birds. Unlike birds and mammals, reptiles are cold-blooded or ectothermic. This amniote ectotherm regulates their body temperature according to their surroundings and is thus, impacted by the changing environmental factors.

The amniote endotherm animal, that is the birds and mammals, can maintain a constant body temperature. An amniote animal possesses a well-adapted egg that remains protected by the amniotic fluid. Humans are also amniotes, who can regulate their body temperatures with changing hot and cold climates. Some of the marine endothermic animals are whales, dolphins, and seals. Other endothermic animals examples include cows, bears, rabbits, lions, and rats. The endothermic animal generally has a higher basal metabolic rate (BMR) according to its body weight and size. The more BMR means the more it can regulate temperatures with increased energy flow.

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