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What is the difference between Ectotherms and Endotherms?

What is the difference between Ectotherms and Endotherms?

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Asked by Elena Sheldon, Last updated: Nov 10, 2024

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7 Answers

Barry Mclean

Barry Mclean

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Barry Mclean
Barry Mclean, Sales Manager, MBA, Ewa

Answered Feb 19, 2021

Ectotherms are cold-blooded poikilothermal animals, while endotherms are warm-blooded homeothermic animals. An ectotherm relies on its external environment to regulate its body temperature, while endotherms regulate its body temperature by producing heat from within.

Ectotherms have anaerobic metabolism, and they have lower stamina, while endotherms have greater stamina and also have aerobic metabolism. Some ectotherms live in an environment where the temperature does not change, so they can regulate their body temperature easily.

Ectotherms get affected by external temperature, unlike the endotherms that generate their heat from within. Examples of ectotherm are snakes, lizards, alligators, and turtles while an example of endotherm are mammals, humans, polar bears, and penguins.

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F. Hope

F. Hope

F. Hope
F. Hope

Answered Feb 02, 2021

When you say ectotherm, you are referring to a reptile or an amphibian. These are the animals that would rely on the outer environment so that they can regulate their body temperature. When you say endotherm, you are referring to birds.

They are able to regulate their body temperature by having enough heat within the body. They do not need to rely on the external environment so that they can regulate their body temperature. You may classify different animals if they are endothermic or exothermic based on the above-given details.

For example, you know that human beings would be able to produce heat from within which also makes them endothermic.

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Jessica Rhodes

Jessica Rhodes

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Jessica Rhodes, Economic advisor, Master of Economics (MEcon), Ohio

Answered Jan 22, 2021

Ectotherms and endotherms are organisms that are different in the way they produce heat. Ectotherms are an organism that cannot generate heat by themselves; these organisms depend on the environment for heat while endotherms are organisms that can generate heat by themselves.

Endotherm body temperature does not fluctuate when external temperatures are available, while the Ectotherms are normally affected by external temperature. Ectotherms are cold-blooded animals sometimes refer to as poikilotherms, while endotherms are warm-blooded animals sometimes refer o as homeotherms.

Ectotherms have lower stamina; however, it has anaerobic metabolism examples of such animals are lizards, snakes, alligators, etc. while Ectotherms have greater stamina and aerobic metabolism examples are humans, mammals, etc.

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A. Samuel

A. Samuel

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A. Samuel, Content Manager, Masters in Marketing and accounting, Florida

Answered Jan 20, 2021


Both ectotherms and endotherms are words used to describe animals in regards to their body temperature. An ectotherm is an animal that relies on the environment around them to help regulate the temperature of their body. Examples of ectotherms are amphibians or reptiles.

An endotherm is an animal that produces heat in its own body to be able to regulate its body temperature. An example of an endotherm is a bird. Knowing these differences is important to know if you are caring for these animals because you will know how to have the temperature of your home and how often you should feed them.

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Isabel Mathew

Isabel Mathew

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Isabel Mathew, Software engineer, BS(Bachelor of Science), Austin,Texas

Answered Jan 19, 2021

Ectotherms are organisms that cannot maintain a constant body temperature, as they depend on the heat that surrounds them to control their body heat. The activities of ectotherms are greatly influenced by changes in environmental temperature. Most reptiles obtain heat by being in the sun, and then they cool down by seeking a safe shelter.

On the other hand, endotherms are animals that can maintain a constant body temperature under a wide array of environmental temperatures, including extreme heat or bitter cold. The continuous temperature range allows them to thrive in various geological and ecological areas on the planet.

Mammals and birds are endotherms, and they necessitate considerable energy for the production of heat and cooling processes. They attain this energy through their digestion process. Ectotherms include fish, reptiles, and amphibians.

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W. Wright

W. Wright

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W. Wright
W. Wright, Biology student, Biology student, Astoria

Answered Jan 14, 2021

A lot of people are confused by the differences between ectotherms and endotherms. When you say ectotherm, you are referring to amphibians and also reptiles that would rely on the external environment so that the temperature of the body can be properly regulated. When you say endotherms, you are referring to birds.

Birds will have the ability to regulate their needed body heat based on their own bodies. Endotherms will be able to speed up their different body processes faster as compared to ectotherms. Take note that endotherms would also require more food in order to grow properly as compared to ectotherms that may be of the same size.

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W. Kaye

W. Kaye

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W. Kaye
W. Kaye, Ex-Marine, Post Graduate, Chapel Hill

Answered Jan 12, 2021

Ectotherms are animals that have a limited ability to regulate their body temperature. As a result, their body temperature depends on the ambient temperature. What this means is that they can't generate the needed heat internally except the one they are getting externally. Ectotherms depend more on ambient temperature for their body heat.

Examples of ectotherms are reptiles (lizards or alligators), fish, frogs, etc. On the other hand, endotherms are animals that do not depend on ambient temperature for their body heat since they have the ability to generate their body heat internally. The body temperature of ectotherms is usually affected by the ambient temperature. On the contrary, the body temperature of endotherms does not change even when their external temperature changes.

Another name for endotherms is homeotherms, i.e. warm-blooded animals. Ectotherms are cold-blooded animals, and they are also known as poikilotherms. Examples of endotherms are mammals, penguins, humans, etc.

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