• Question: Why are some animals cold blooded and some warm?

    Asked by xmarijaax to Jane, Chris, Anna on 14 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Anna Middleton

      Anna Middleton answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      Hi xmarijaax
      The simple answer is that this is due to evolution. The more complex answer requires a bit of a google search!

    • Photo: Jane Charlesworth

      Jane Charlesworth answered on 18 Mar 2014:

      Warm and cold-blooded animals survive better in different environments. Warm-blooded animals, for example, can be active at night, because they don’t rely on the sun. They might do better in environments where food is scarce (or low in nutrients–if you think about it there aren’t many vegetarian lizards outside of the tropical rainforest). Being active for longer hours has also meant that warm-blooded animals were able to evolve larger brains (brains use a lot of energy). But cold-blooded animals still exist because there are plenty of places where they can get enough sun to keep warm.

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