Mammals in Winter

Name: Angelica
Status: student
Grade: 6-8
Location: N/A

Question: Does the temperature of a mammal stay the same as in
winter when it is summer?
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Angelica,

You've probably heard of "cold-blooded" and
"warm-blooded" animals.  These terms refer to the
organism's ability-to and maintenance-of control over
their body temperature.  Mammals fall into the
"warm-blooded" category, meaning that their body
temperatures are maintained, regardless of the season
or the surroundings, within a narrow temperature
range.  Cold-blooded creatures' body temperatures
fluctuate with much greater ranges, according to their
surroundings.

You should first note that, since mammals can control
their body temperature, life processes which depend on
a certain body temperature can proceed.  You might
also have read about where things go wrong, for
example, a pet left in a hot car.  Though mammals can
control their body temperature, the control is not
complete.  Though we, as humans, can sweat, and dogs
can pant to release excess heat, no animal can
tolerate excesses in temperature, either hot or cold,
for a long period of time.  Humans have been known to
die both in hot and cold situations, where the body's
ability to function and maintain internal control over
temperature to support life functions fails.

Note also that, because cold-blooded organisms cannot
maintain their internal temperature in the way that
warm blooded organisms can, it is important that these
animals live in environments where the temperature
range is not too severe.  A cold blooded animal living
in the hot desert could quickly die if exposed to a
sudden very cold environment, partly because of lack
of the same type of control warm-blooded creatures
possess.  Simply, the functions necessary to support

their lives don't work in rally sever temperature
extremes.

A question for you to consider:  Although we, as
warm-blooded mammals, have the ability to maintain our
body temperatures internally, what other means do we
use to insure that our bodies successfully keep that
temperature stable?


Thanks for using NEWTON!
Ric Rupnik
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