Evolution of temperature regulatory mechanisms

Abstract

Temperature regulation in vertebrates utilizes both behavioral and metaboliccirculatory mechanisms which are under the control of preoptic-anterior hypothalamic structures. Both central and peripheral thermoreceptors exist in all classes of vertebrates, but major differences in their importance in regulating body temperature occur. Within the central nervous system (CNS), structures controlling thermoregulation are highly redundant; subsystems occur at several CNS levels in a hierarchical organization. Thermoregulatory effector mechanisms have not evolved independently, but are derived from pre-existing organ systems which originally evolved for other functions. © 1984 by the American Society of Zoologists.