Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Thermotaxis

Thermotaxis is the regulation of heat in warm-blooded animals.

When it's hot, I like to cool down in the sea. Does that make me thermotaxic? I'm not a good swimmer, but in the UK that doesn't matter as the sea is generally so cold that a quick paddle is more than enough to do the job.

A thermotactic reaction is movement in a living organism as a response to temperature. If you watch a litter of puppies or piglets, you'll see that if it's warm they spread out more. When the temperature drops, they snuggle up together.

11 comments:

  1. Those dogs would be confused with our temperatures, which are going up and down like a yo-yo right now.

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    1. There seems to be a lot of unsettled weather generally, Alex.

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  2. You need to visit our Gulf Coast...water is in the 80s in the summer.

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  3. Don't think I've come across that word, patsy, but I do love swimming in the sea!

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    1. Can't blame you, Scotland has such lovely beaches and clear looking water.

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  4. Hi Patsy - sensible piggies or puppies ... interesting word though - Cheers Hilary

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Thanks so much for commenting!