Homeothermy

Homeothermy is the maintenance of a relatively stable internal body temperature despite changes in environmental temperature. It can result from internal heat production, behavioral regulation, or both.

Thermoregulation: The control of an organism’s body temperature through physiological and behavioral processes. Homeothermy is an outcome of thermoregulatory control.
Body temperature: The temperature of an organism’s tissues, often measured at a specified body site. Homeothermy concerns how this temperature varies over time and conditions.
Torpor: A reversible state of reduced metabolism and body temperature that conserves energy. Torpor relaxes the usual maintenance of stable body temperature.
Eurythermy: The ability to tolerate a wide range of environmental temperatures. Broad thermal tolerance does not itself mean body temperature stays constant.
Endothermy: The use of internally generated metabolic heat as a major source of body warmth. Endothermy often supports homeothermy, but the two describe different properties.
Thermal homeostasis: Physiological regulation that keeps body temperature near a regulated range. It is the control process that can produce homeothermy.
Hibernation: A prolonged seasonal state of reduced metabolism, activity, and body temperature in some animals. Many hibernators suspend homeothermy during deep bouts and restore it during arousals.
Stenothermy: The inability to tolerate a wide range of environmental temperatures. Narrow thermal tolerance concerns survival limits, not internal temperature stability.
Ectothermy: Dependence on environmental heat sources to regulate body temperature. Ectotherms can maintain stable temperatures behaviorally without relying on internal heat production.
Poikilothermy: A pattern in which body temperature varies substantially with environmental conditions. It describes temperature variability opposite to homeothermy.

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