Mechanisms of temperature adaptation in poikilotherms

Molecular mechanisms of temperature adaptation.

Thermal perception is a fundamental physiological process pertaining to the vast majority of organisms. In vertebrates, environmental temperature is detected by the primary afferents of the somatosensory neurons in the skin, which express a 'choir' of ion channels tuned to detect particular temperatures. Nearly two decades of research have revealed a number of receptor ion channels that mediate...

Gigantism, temperature and metabolic rate in terrestrial poikilotherms.

The mechanisms dictating upper limits to animal body size are not well understood. We have analysed body length data for the largest representatives of 24 taxa of terrestrial poikilotherms from tropical, temperate and polar environments. We find that poikilothermic giants on land become two-three times shorter per each 10 degrees of decrease in ambient temperature. We quantify that this diminut...

Temperature-associated upper limits to body size in terrestrial poikilotherms

Firing Hot, Firing Cold: How Poikilotherms Compensate for Temperature Swings

If you are reading this, you have one less problem than the crabs that are the subject of a new study in this issue of PLoS Biology. Humans, like all mammals (as well as birds), are ‘‘warm-blooded,’’ or more correctly ‘‘homeothermic,’’ meaning we maintain our core body organs at a constant temperature. We expend considerable energy to do so, and may die when we cannot. In contrast, crabs, cod, ...

Hibernation: poikilotherms

Introduction For cold-blooded or poikilothermic animals, winter presents challenges to survival. Since the body temperature (Tb) of poikilotherms is usually very close to that of their surrounding environment, the risk of death from freezing is very real when temperatures drop below 0°C. Food is also scare during the winter and some animals also have limited mobility because the cold can make m...