Endotherms

An endotherm (from Greek ἔνδον endon "within" and θέρμη thermē "heat") is an organism that maintains its body at a metabolically favorable temperature, largely by the use of heat set free by its internal bodily functions instead of relying almost purely on ambient heat. Such internally generated heat is mainly an incidental product of the animal's routine metabolism, but under conditions of excessive cold or low activity an endotherm might apply special mechanisms adapted specifically to heat production. Examples include special-function muscular exertion such as shivering, and uncoupled oxidative metabolism such as within brown adipose tissue. Only birds and mammals are extant universally endothermic groups of animals. Certain lamnid sharks, tuna and billfishes are also endothermic.

In common parlance, endotherms are characterized as "warm-blooded". The opposite of endothermy is ectothermy, although there is no absolute or clear separation between the nature of endotherms and ectotherms in general.

Many endotherms have a larger number of per cell than ectotherms. This enables them to generate heat by increasing the rate at which they metabolize fats and sugars. Accordingly, to sustain their higher metabolism, endothermic animals typically require several times as much food as ectothermic animals do, and usually require a more sustained supply of metabolic fuel.

In many endothermic animals, a controlled temporary state of hypothermia conserves energy by permitting the body temperature to drop nearly to ambient levels. Such states may be brief, regular circadian cycles called torpor, or they might occur in much longer, even seasonal, cycles called hibernation. The body temperatures of many small birds (e.g. hummingbirds) and small mammals (e.g. tenrecs) fall dramatically during daily inactivity, such as nightly in diurnal animals or during the day in nocturnal animals, thus reducing the energy cost of maintaining body temperature. Less drastic intermittent reduction in body temperature also occurs in other, larger endotherms; for example human metabolism also slows down during sleep, causing a drop in core temperature, commonly of the order of 1 degree Celsius. there may be other variations in temperature, usually smaller, either endogenous or in response to external circumstances or vigorous exertion, and either an increase or a drop.

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