Name: Walter
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: Around 1993
Question:
What is the fundamental difference between cold-blooded and warm-
blooded creatures? I know that reptile blood is a bit different than mammal
blood, but is that the difference or is it a difference in the other cells of
the body?
Replies:
Warm blooded refers to an animals ability to maintain its body
temperature at a constant level. Cold blooded animal's bodies stay at the
temperature of environment around them (more or less). The mechanism by which
a warm blooded animal does this is by generating heat, mostly through muscle
movement (but by other biochemical processes too). An example of this is
shivering. Warm blooded animals also cool themselves off by sweating, panting
(and other ways). In mammals the hypothalamic area of the brain has much to
do with controlling these reflex processes.
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