Poikilotherm definition biography
Homeotherm.
Poikilotherm
Organism with considerable internal temperature variation
This article needs attention from an expert in biology. The specific problem is: Article could have a lot more information.WikiProject Biology may be able to help recruit an expert.(July 2016) |
A poikilotherm () is an animal (Greek poikilos – 'various', 'spotted', and therme – 'heat') whose internal temperature varies considerably.
Poikilotherm definition biography
Poikilotherms have to survive and adapt to environmental stress.[1] One of the most important stressors is outer environment temperature change, which can lead to alterations in membrane lipid order and can cause protein unfolding and denaturation at elevated temperatures.[1]Poikilotherm is the opposite of homeotherm – an animal which maintains thermalhomeostasis.
In principle, the term could be applied to any organism, but it is generally only applied to vertebrate animals. Usually the fluctuations are a consequence of variation in