(12) Compare an ectothermic animal to an endothermic animal in terms of thermoregulation. What limitations does each type have and what benefits does each type have?

A. Endothermic animals produce heat themselves metabolically. Their body temperatures are independent of external temperatures. On the other hand, ectothermic animals gain heat from the environment. Thus they also have various body temperatures.
Ectothermic animals become active only when the temperature is sufficiently warm. They have upper and lower thermal limit that they can tolerate. Thus they have to take time to warm their bodies up before being active to do something.
Endothermic animals have to consume a lot of energy to keep their metabolic rate, therefore, their body temperatures constant. Thus they have to spend more times looking for food. When their resources become scarce, these animals tend to enter torpor or hibernation.

The good things of being ectothermic is that they don’t have to consume much energy and they might adapt better to the change of the temperature of the environment compared to the endothermic ones. The benefits of endothermic animals are that they don’t have to be limited by the temperature. Their metabolic systems are able to keep them energetic and active regardless of the change of temperatures.

B.Ectothermic animals cannot produce heat, and only gain heat from the environment. Endothermic animals can produce internal heat. For example, endothermy allows animals to remain active regardless of environmental temperatures, whereas environmental temperatures largely dictate the activity of the ectothermy. Ectoderms absorb heat across their surface but must absorb enough energy to heat the entire body mass. Therefore, the ratio surface area to volume is a key factor in controlling the uptake of heat and the maintenance of body temperature. The constraint that size imposes on endothermy is opposite for ectothermy. For endothermy it is the body mass that produces heat through respiration, while heat is lost to the surrounding environment across the body surface.

C.Endothermic animals can metabolize their own heat. Their body temperature is independent of the surrounding area. Because they must metabolize their own heat endothermic animals must eat to stay warm.
Ectothermic animals receive their temperature from the environment. Ectothermic animals are only active when the weather is warm enough. There is a maximum and minimum temperature they can survive between. The upside is that Ectothermic animals don’t need to eat continually.

D.Endothermic are group of animals generate heat metabolically, internal heat production. “Heat from within”. Exothermic are group of animals acquire heat primarily from external environment. Gaining heat from environment. “Heat from without”.
Ectotherms can curtail metabolic activity in times of food and water shortage and temperature extremes. Their low energy demands enable some terrestrial poikilotherms to colonize area of limited food and water. One of the most important features influencing its ability to regulate body temperature is an animal’s size. A body exchanges heat with the external environment (either air or water) in proportion to the surface area exposed.
Organism has to absorb sufficient energy across its surface to warm the entire body mass, the amount of energy and the period of time require raising body temperature likewise increase. For this reason, ectothermy impose a constraint on maximum body size for cold-blooded animals and restricts the distribution of the large poikilotherms to the warmer, seasonal regions of the subtropics and tropics.

E.Ectoderms rely on heat from the environment for self thermoregulation. Endotherms produce their own heat. Examples of endotherms are small birds and mammals. Examples of ectoderms are amphibians, lizards, snakes, turtles, crocs. Ectoderms must regulate their temperature by soaking in the sun to heat up or staying in a cool dry area to cool off. Endotherms are not restricted to their activity regardless of environmental temperatures. However, because endotherms are not restricted in their activity, they spend more energy and must consume more to regain. Ectoderms can allocate more of their energy intake to biomass production than metabolic needs. Also, because don’t depend on generating body head, they can curtail metabolic activity in times of food and water shortage and temperature extremes. Due to conflicting metabolic demands of body temperature and growth, most young birds and mammals are born in an altricial state (blind, naked, and helpless=beginning as ectoderms to allocate energy towards growth).