In which type of environment (aquatic or terrestrial would you expect to see:

Question

i. the greatest number of ECTOTHERMIC organisms? Explian

ii. the greates number of ENDOTHERMIC organisms? Explain?

Please help me! I am confused thanks!!

Answer 1

ectothermic--aquatic

endo--terrestrial

Answer 2

aquatic: ectothermic

terrestial: endothermic

Answer 3

Well there are some differentiating answers here! Lets clear it up. First lets define what an ectothermic animal is, and what an endothermic animal is. It all has to do with body heat. Endothermic animals maintain there own temperature through metabolic process. They have a constant temperature. Ectothermic animals don't maintain their own body temperature... they leave that up to their surroundings.

Most mammals are endothermic, and most aquatic animals are ectothermic.

Lets start out with ectotherms. Like I said, ectotherms rely on their surroundings to maintain their body temperature. Water is a great place to do this. If you swim close to the top, it is warmer. If you swim down to the bottom, it is cooler. It is a lot easier than living on land where it is either hot or cold with no temperature changes except if you find a shady spot, but that won't cool you off as instantly as water. Ectotherms need to be surrounded by a substance with their temperature they are trying to achieve themselves.

Now onto endothermic. Endotherms maintain their own body temperature through metabolic function. This means they warm themselves or cool themselves automatically. As humans we warm ourselves by increasing blood flow, and we cool ourselves off by sweating. So on land we can be anywhere (well to a certain extent) and our body's temperature will adjust automatically. Make sense?

Good luck on your homework.