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endotherm |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.04 sec. |
endothermSo-called warm-blooded animals; that is, those that maintain a constant body temperature independent of the environment. The endotherms include the birds and mammals. If heat loss exceeds heat generation, metabolism increases to make up the loss or the animal shivers to raise its body temperature. If heat generation exceeds the heat loss, mechanisms such as panting or perspiring increase heat loss. Unlike ectotherms, endotherms can be active and survive at quite low external temperatures, but because they must produce heat continuously, they require high quantities of “fuel” (i.e., food). |
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It is possible that the branch of reptiles that became mammals transduced sound in this fashion the entire time, and that competition for the function of these three bones did not occur until the advent of endothermy and the subsequent need for more rapid food processing. While high blood pressure is correlated with endothermy in birds and mammals, it would also be essential in a large animal with a long neck (as in many dinosaurs) for blood to be delivered to the brain, whatever the metabolism of the animal. Their presence in a fossil animal signals endothermy, say the researchers (SN: 5/14/94, p. |
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endothermy
