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Thermoregulation

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Biology of the Integument

Abstract

Environmental physiologists have devoted many years of study to the mechanisms of thermoregulation, but the majority of research effort in this field has been concentrated on the physiology of the control of body temperature, with emphasis on various biochemical processes involved. However, the mandatory requirement for effective thermoregulation is not only possession of a thermostat, but also the existence of an interfacing structure that can modify the flow of heat between the body core and the environment. In homeothermic birds and mammals most body heat is produced internally (endothermy) and possession of adequate insulation to retain that heat is usually provided by the skin and hair coat or feathers. In poikilothermic amphibians and reptiles most body heat is absorbed from the environment (ectothermy) and the skin serves to control rates of heat and water exchange such that favorable body temperatures are maintained. Despite the fact that the physics of heat transfer through animal insulators is not mathematically complex, it has, until recently (Mitchell 1977, Cena and Clark 1979), received less attention than a number of secondary subcutaneous mechanisms concerned in thermoregulation and in homeostasis in particular. The aim of this chapter is to review current knowledge of the biophysics of animal insulators, and to describe how their structure controls the processes of energy exchange between the internal and ambient environments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Occupational Health Program, McMaster University Medical Center, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3Z5, Canada

    K. Cena

  2. Department of Physiology and Environmental Studies, University of Nottingham School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leics., LE12 5RD, England

    J. A. Clark

  3. Department of Biology, State University College at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14222, USA

    J. R. Spotila

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  1. K. Cena
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  2. J. A. Clark
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  3. J. R. Spotila
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Kinematische Zellforschung, Fachbereich Biologie der Universität, Postfach 11 19 32, D-6000, Frankfurt a.M., Germany

    Jürgen Bereiter-Hahn

  2. Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, 80 East Concord Street, 02118, Boston, MA, USA

    A. Gedeon Matoltsy

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Keele, ST5 5BG, Keele, Staffordshire, GB

    K. Sylvia Richards

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© 1986 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Cena, K., Clark, J.A., Spotila, J.R. (1986). Thermoregulation. In: Bereiter-Hahn, J., Matoltsy, A.G., Richards, K.S. (eds) Biology of the Integument. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-00989-5_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-00989-5_26

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-00991-8

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