Gigantothermy

The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, exhibits gigantothermy

Gigantothermy (sometimes called ectothermic homeothermy) is a phenomenon with significance in biology and paleontology, whereby large, bulky ectothermic animals are more easily able to maintain a constant, relatively high body temperature than smaller animals by virtue of their smaller surface area to volume ratio.^[1] A bigger animal has proportionately less of its body close to the outside environment than a smaller animal of otherwise similar shape, and so it gains heat from, or loses heat to, the environment much more slowly.^[2]

The phenomenon is important in the biology of ectothermic megafauna, such as large turtles (particularly the leatherback sea turtle), and aquatic reptiles like ichthyosaurs and mosasaurs. It is also present in certain large fish, most notably the great white shark. Gigantotherms, though almost always ectothermic, generally have a body temperature similar to that of endotherms.^{[citation needed]} It has been suggested that the larger dinosaurs would have been gigantothermic, rendering them virtually homeotherm.^[3]

See also

• Bergmann's rule
• Physiology of dinosaurs

Notes

1. ^ http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-12312003-115912/unrestricted/etd.pdf
2. ^ http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/midorcas/animalphysiology/websites/2005/Fitzpatrick/Gigantothermy.htm
3. ^ Big dinosaurs 'had warmer blood', BBC

External links

• Gigantothermy at Davidson

This animal physiology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Animal physiology Paleontology stubs Animal stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную? Kerygma Still Life (Van der Graaf Generator album) Look at other dictionaries: gigantothermy — the phenomenon where a large, bulky body in ectotherms (q.v.) is able to maintain a higher temperature relative to the environment because of a greater volume to surface area ratio, e.g. in the great white shark …   Dictionary of ichthyology gigantothermy — /dʒaɪˈgæntoʊθɜmi/ (say juy gantohthermee) noun the system by which a large animal regulates its body heat, being better able, by virtue of its volume to surface area ratio, to gain and lose heat more slowly than a smaller animal which has… …   Gigantotermia — La tortuga laúd se vale de la gigantotermia para sobrevivir en los gelidos mares del norte. La gigantotermia u homeotermia inercial es un fenómeno de importancia en la biología y la paleontología por el cual los animales de sangre fría de… …   Wikipedia Español Warm-blooded — In biology, a warm blooded animal species is one whose members maintain thermal homeostasis; that is, they keep their body temperature at a roughly constant level, regardless of the ambient temperature. This involves the ability to cool down or… …   Wikipedia Physiology of dinosaurs — Note: In this article dinosaur means non avian dinosaur, since most experts regard birds as an advanced group of dinosaurs. The physiology of dinosaurs has historically been a controversial subject, particularly thermoregulation. Recently, many… …   Wikipedia Gigantothermie — Carcharodon carcharias, le grand requin blanc, est un animal gigantotherme. La gigantothermie (parfois appelée homéothermie ectotherme) est un phénomène rencontré en biologie et en paléontologie qui fait que de volumineux animaux ectothermes (ne… …   Wikipédia en Français Tyrannosaurus — T. rex redirects here. For other uses, see T. rex (disambiguation). Bilateria Tyrannosaurus rex Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 67–65.5 Ma …   Wikipedia Great white shark — Taxobox name = Great white shark fossil range = Pliocene to recent status = VU trend = unknown status system = iucn2.3 image width = 250px regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Chondrichthyes subclassis = Elasmobranchii ordo = Lamniformes …   Wikipedia Tyrannosauridae — Filozoa Tyrannosaurids Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 83–65.5 Ma …   Wikipedia Bergmann's Rule — In zoology, Bergmann s rule is an ecogeographic rule that correlates latitude with body mass in animals.Tim M. Blackburn; Kevin J. Gaston; Natasha Loder (1999) Geographic Gradients in Body Size: A Clarification of Bergmann s Rule Diversity and… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”