Class notes Unit 3 - Understand Animal Anatomy and Physiology
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Thermoregulatory Adaptations
The two species of animal I am choosing to write about within this report are
Snakes(Ectothermic) and Elephants(Endothermic).
Background:
Elephants are the largest land mammals on earth. They are made up of 2 main living species
who can measure 18-24 feet tall and can weigh up to 4-6 tons. They are known for their
long trunk, large ears, they’re also grey in colour and have sparse and coarse hair. They’re
found within savannahs, grasslands and forests but can also occupy a wide range of habitats
like deserts, highlands and swamps within the tropical and subtropical regions within Asia
and Africa.
Because they naturally live in warm locations, they’re built with an endothermic body. This
is more well known by the phrase ‘warm-blooded’. Endotherms are able to thermoregulate
their body by generating heat internally. Body temperature depends on the balance
between heat production and heat loss. Endotherms maintain body temperature according
to their environmental surroundings by metabolic production of heat, the changing of body
temperature is a constant that naturally occurs within the body.
Snakes are made up of more than 3,000 different species. They range in size from 4 inches
long all the way up to 42 feet long. They can be found all over the world, apart from
Antarctica, Iceland, Ireland, Greenland and New Zealand. Around 600 species of snake are
venomous and around 200 of those species are able to kill or significantly wound a human.
They can live within deserts, rainforests, woodlands, grasslands, meadows, and most
habitats which are not arctic or subarctic.
The fact that snakes are unable to survive within arctic temperatures and are usually
inactive during the colder months where they do live, is because their bodies are built as
ectothermic systems. This is better recognised as the phrase ‘cold-blooded’. Ectotherms are
not self regulating beings, meaning their body temperature is controlled by the environment
(when the environment is cold, they become dormant/when the environment is warm they
become active) - unlike endotherms who can stay active no matter the weather due to their
ever changing self-regulating system.
Physiological Control:
Elephant’s only have sweat glands within their feet, so instead of using sweat glands to cool
down, they rely on other physical and behavioural adaptations to regulate body heat - Their
core body temperature is 36 degrees celsius. An elephant’s skin is extremely wrinkled, this is
to give the body a larger surface area for heat to be removed from at a quicker rate. The
creases also help trap and retain moisture to prolong the evaporation process which allows
the elephant to release up to 75% of its body heat. They have ‘hot spots’ around their body
filled with many blood vessels which expand as the air temperature increases and their
blood supply can be directed to these spots in times of overheating, this way they can lose
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