ABSTRACT
Gr: unchanging temperature), meaning that although exposed to a variety of temperatures the body remains at a certain warm temperature. Cells of the body function optimally within a narrow range (97.7-100.4°F/ 36.5-38°C), and mammals and birds have evolved a way of regulating the internal temperature to stay within this span. In contrast, amphibians, rep tiles and fish (“cold-blooded” or poikilothermic-Gr: variable temperature) possess less sophisticated regulatory systems, take on the temperature of the environment and must take radical moves to avoid extremes of hot and cold (actually “cold-blooded” is a misnomer, since frogs, snakes and fish have warm blood).
