Re: Why insulation = endothermy

[Stan Friesen <swf@ElSegundoCA.NCR.COM>]

 From: Rob Meyerson <Robert.J.Meyerson@uwrf.edu>
 > 
 > This is true for "end members" of each group, yet for the intermediate
 > forms it may not be that big of a problem.  ... so there
 > is likely to be a number of partially endothermic/partially insulated
 > forms.  What I see is a snowballing effect, where a generation adapts
 > to a higher metabolism ..., and so on down the
 > line until the species reaches full endothermy.  Looking back on the
 > trend, we would see that the amount of insulation was proportional
 > to the metabolism.  
 > 
This is certainly going to be the sort of thing that happens, and
happened.  However, given that essentially full endothermy is possible
with a rather lower basal metabolism than is currently usual in
endotherms, I would esxpect full insulation to occur prior to reaching
modern metabolic levels.  Indeed, after the first few stages, increases
in insulation may have led the way.

swf@elsegundoca.ncr.com         sarima@ix.netcom.com

The peace of God be with you.