Homeotherms are able to maintain a constant body temperature, and poculotherms have fluc ating body temperature with respect to their external environment. For animals that hibernate for really long periods of time, like weeks or months, their internal body temperature can actually drop to within about one degree celsius of ambien temperature. And this is an energy saving mechanism.
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Bundle up for a smol, classroom-friendly episode with Princeton University evolutionary biologist and Thermophysiologist Dr. Shane Campbell-Staton. You’ll learn about everything from heat tolerance to frostbite, anti-freeze woodfrogs to icy alligators, why some people run hot, why your toes run cold, how a fever is like a honeybee, how geography influences our body composition, why mammoths are big, and why you should grab your hat before running out the door. Also: what counts as “balmy” in Alaska.
Full, uncut, NSFW version of Thermophysiology plus research links
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