... temperature, and thus have no biochemical method of temperature maintenance. Since control is needed however, Poikilotherms, such as chameleons, have developed adaptive methods for coping with this problem. They often bask in the sun in the mornings after a cold night to warm up their body temperature, thus allowing enzymes to become active, so that the rate of respiration will increase and they animal can become more mobile. This explains the reason why more lizards are caught by kookaburras on cold cloudy days than on sunny hot days. The regulatory processes that are the basis of homeostasis depend solely on the use of negative feedback systems, which work by analysing sensory information about a particular variable (e.g. pH, salinity, temperature etc), and using this information to respond to the stimulus and bring the variable back to the equilibrium state. Control systems are said to consist of receptors, which measure the factor ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now