Body Temperature and External Temperature

Abstract

Although the body temperature of poikilothermic animals changes in the same direction as the external temperature, the level of the body temperature is usually not the same as that of the external temperature. The temperature gradient between the body and its surroundings is not only a function of heat production and heat loss, but also of a number of environmental factors which determine the climatic conditions surrounding the organism, especially solar radiation, humidity, and air currents (cf. Gates, 1962,1970; Schwerdtfeger, 1963; ed. 1, p. 133–139). The effects of external physical factors, endogenous heat production, and heat outflow via radiation, conduction, and convection will be discussed here only to the extent that they serve active temperature regulation