THE COOL CROWD!

Reptiles and Their Unique Way to Brave the Cold How do the cold-blooded denizens of the natural world grapple with icy temperatures? The author clears it up for the readers

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As temperatures start to drop with the advent of winter, ectothermic (coldblooded) animals start preparing for the change in season to better adapt to the harsh and brutal cold. Ectothermic animals rely on the external environment to regulate their body temperature. Reptiles and amphibians are commonly known as ectothermic animals that have to adjust to changing environmental and weather conditions.

The word ectotherm comes from the Greek words ektós (meaning 'outside') and thermós (meaning 'heat'). Ectothermic animals are not capable of thermoregulation. Thermoregulation is the ability to control one's own body temperature to comply with the surrounding environment. One particular group of reptiles that cannot do this is snakes. Snakes have other adaptation strategies instead, to survive colder temperatures.

In snakes, the internal physiological heat sources play a negligible role in regulating their body temperature, which makes these reptiles rely on the external environment for heat. They have evolved to undergo a process called 'brumation', which is usually thought to be their version of hibernation.

There is, however, a fundamental difference between these two processes. Hibernation is defined as complete inactivity, wherein an animal such as the Himalayan Brown bear goes to sleep and its heart rate drops to a significantly lower level. But in brumation, snakes are neither completely inactive nor do they DESCUDER go to sleep. It is a period of partial activity and their metabolism rates slow down tremendously.