Most people have heard the term "cold blooded" and may even have a vague sense of what it means.
As opposed to "warm blooded," it means that the internal temperature of the animal in question remains the same regardless of and dependent upon the outside temperature.
However, the more correct terms used are ectothermic and endothermic. Ecto means outside for “cold blooded" and endo means inside for "warm blooded," or producing internal heat.
All reptiles and amphibians are ectothermic just as all mammals and birds are endothermic. Many invertebrates and fish however are not so clear cut and are beyond the scope of this blog to discuss in detail just yet.
Either way this concept all boils down to a process called thermoregulation, which has been mentioned before on this blog but not really explained. The concept is easy to understand as when focusing on reptiles and amphibians, which are all ectothermic, we know that they all rely on their outside environment to control their internal temperature. Depending on what the herp (generic term encompassing all reptiles and amphibians hence herpetology) is, they have many ways of doing this, most notably by "basking" in the sun to warm up and seeking cover in the shade to cool down.
These basic methods vary considerably in context, as does the average temperature the species in question requires to be active. There also are other factors such as moisture, humidity and water, which of course is vitally important for many turtle species and also all amphibians.
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