Ask A Scientist© Biology Archive

name        Jarred
status       student
grade        4-5
location     FL

Question -   Why does warm blooded animals need to eat more
regular than cold blooded creatures?
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Because they use some of their "fuel" to heat their bodies.  Warm
blooded animals are technically called homeotherms ("same
temperature") because they maintain a constant body temperature.  It's
like constantly having to add logs to your fireplace if you want your
house to stay warm.  Cold blooded animals are called poikilotherms
("different temperatures")  take on the heat from their environment. 
If it is cold out, their bodies are roughly the same temperature as it
is outside.  One is not necessarily better than the other, its just a
different way of allocating their fuel.  Warm blooded organisms can
move faster and can live in areas of differing climate better than
cold blooded, but they have to eat more.  Cold blooded organisms need
to live either in moderate temperatures or become more or less dormant
in cold weather, and they can't move fast for long periods of time,
but they also don't have to eat as often.

vanhoeck
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If you are warm blooded, your body makes it's own heat. In order for it to
do that it needs lots of energy, not only to keep warm, but also to move. We
get our energy from food. Cold blooded animals cannot make their own heat,
so all their food is used for energy to move. However, that energy is used
up fast when cold blooded animals move. That's why most cold blooded animals
move slowly and don't eat as often.

Grace Fields
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