Question

You are studying a large tropical reptile that has a high and relatively stable body temperature. How would you determine whether this animal is an endotherm or an ectotherm?

Answer 1

Explanation:

Endothermic animals are also known as warm-blooded, they have the capacity to regulate their body temperature independent of the environment. They have mechanisms to compensate if heat loss exceeds heat generation (shivers) Or if heat generation exceeds the heat loss (panting, sweating).

On the other hand, ectothermal animals are known as cold blooded organisms and depend on external sources, like sunlight, to regulate their body temperature, reptiles are ectothermals.

To determine if the animal of interest is endo or ectothermal you’ll have to consider that is a reptile, you’ll also observe that it consumes less food and finally it’ll have more difficulties to adapt to sudden temperature changes.

I hope you find this information useful and interesting! Good luck!