How Do Mammals Regulate Their Temperature?

by OBDK on October 12, 2022

As temperatures rise or lower with the changing seasons, we as humans tend to adjust to the weather with our clothing – wearing heavy jackets when it snows or shorts when it’s hot out. We have other ways to do this, such as shivering or sweating, and those are things that we have in common with other mammals! 
 
Other animals don’t change their clothes to regulate their body temperature, so what do they do? 
 
This is called thermoregulation, which is something that endothermic animals do. Being endothermic means that an animal can regulate their temperature from the inside.1&2 
 
If an animal can’t regulate its temperature and keep it low or high enough, it will experience either hyperthermia (when the internal temperature gets too high) or hypothermia (when it gets too low).1
 
Some ways to regulate body temperature include shivering, sweating, goosebumps, panting, opening capillaries, and flattening or puffing up fur.1, 2, & 3
 
The hypothalamus is responsible for controlling body temperature. It’s a gland within the brain that receives information from other parts of the body and then tells the rest of the body what to do.3 
 
Read more from our blog: 

Sources: 
  1. https://oceanadventures.co.za/animals-regulate-body-temperature/
  2. https://northamericannature.com/how-do-mammals-stay-warm/
  3. https://sciencing.com/mammals-control-body-temperature-4900006.html

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