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Archives of The Cold Blooded NewsThe Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological SocietyVolume 29, Number 3; March, 2002 |
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Aurora Man Strangled Black Pine Snakes The King Cobra Wandering Newts Ask the Vet "Therms" of Endearment Keeping Large Snakes Next Issue April 2002 PREVIOUS ISSUES February 2002 January 2002 Earlier Issues About the Cold Blooded News CHS Home Page |
"Therms" of Endearmentby Amanda Fenrick, Editor: Ark'TypeReprinted from Ark'Type, the newsletter of the Westcoast Society for the Protection and Conservation of Reptiles (WSPCR), BC, Canada, December/January 2001/2002.Biologists these days are getting very persnickety about terminology. These days?? Well, ok, they have always been hung up on terms! "Cold Blooded" is a thing of the past. According to biologists, it is deceptive, and in my experience they are right. How many times has a person touched a reptile for the first time and stated in surprise, "Oh, its warm! I thought reptiles were cold blooded." Cold blooded was never meant to mean literally cold -- just that their bodies do not generate internal heat. They still keep themselves warm by sitting in the sun. "Poikilotherms" was another term used for reptiles, but it too is inaccurate. This term describes an animal which passively allows its temperature to fluctuate with the environmental temperature, with no attempt to change it or compensate for it. These are animals which can function at drastically different body temperatures without trouble. Reptiles are not in that category. They must seek out warmth and they regulate their body temperature very precisely through behaviour -- they thermoregulate. If they do not maintain a stable and proper temperature, their bodily functions break down. So what would persnickety biologists have us label reptiles? "Ectotherm" is the term of choice. This implies that the animal seeks heat from external sources. So the next time someone asks if your reptile is cold blooded you may reply: "No, he is ectothermic!" Perhaps somebody should tell our esteemed sister Society in Colorado that their newsletter is long overdue for a name change.... "Ectothermic News" might be a little more current than "Cold Blooded News!" Editor's Note: Amanda e-mailed me to ask if I had read this article. I replied that their newsletter's name needs updating also. (They used to call their society the Association of Reptile Keepers, hence ARK'type). Great fun! Copyright © 1998 - 2006, Colorado Herpetological Society. All rights reserved. | ||
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