Question

What is an endothermic homeotherm? What challenges do they experience in cold environments and what three adaptions do they make in order to survive the cold environment? Why can ectotherm's also be homeotherms? What kinds of environments would ectothermic homeotherms most likely be in?

Answer 1

Endothermic homeotherms alter their metabolic rate in response to environmental temperature . The response to temperature depends in part on how precisely or not endotherms maintain body temperature.  Over a range of intermediate temperatures, called the thermal neutral zone (TNZ), metabolic rate remains constant. If body temperature and metabolic rate are constant, but the thermal gradient between the animal and the environment is changed, then the insulation (or its reciprocal conductance) of the animal must change.

endotherms increase heat production so that they can offset increased heat loss in colder environments; thereby, they balance heat production and heat loss to maintain a constant body temperature.

All endotherms are homeothermic, but some ectotherms, like desert lizards, are so good at maintaining their body temperature with behavioral means that they are considered homeothermic.

Ectotherms usually live in environments in which temperatures are constant, such as the tropics or ocean. Ectotherms have developed several behavioral thermoregulation mechanisms, such as basking in the sun to increase body temperature or seeking shade to decrease body temperature.