In: Biology
Higher organisms like Birds and Mammals are called as warm-blooded animals or Homeothermic animals. They have a mechanism to maintain a constant internal body temperature irrespective of the external temperature. Homeothermy is a type of homeostasis, which can be defined as the process that biological systems use to maintain a constant internal environment to survive. Homeothery is happening through three mechanisms, afferent sensing, central control, and efferent response. The receptors for both cold and heat can be seen throughout the animal body and these sensors can sense the temperature change in the body which is called afferent sensing. The sensors then transmit the signal to the central controller of the thermoregulation which is the hypothalamus. The efferent response is the mechanisms to regulate the increased or decreased temperature. The Body temperature can be lowered through sweating and the can be increased by shivering.
Shivering or shuddering is the shaking of voluntary skeletal muscles, which can increase muscle activity and thus boost heat production. Mechanoreceptors have not many roles in thermoregulation.