The thermoregulation of ectothermic vertebrates: History, current views, and complicating factors

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Ectothermy is a metabolic category usually defined in the context of three big families of arguments, none of which applies to all lineages we called “ectothermic”. This paradox results from the huge variation in life history and body size encompassed in this “group”, even when only vertebrates are under consideration. Although the difficulties of generalizing about the dependency of body temperature on environmental temperature are outstanding, it is common to read about how “ectotherms” respond to thermal variation, particularly in the context of behavioral thermoregulation. I discuss how concepts changed through history, since the early discoveries in the 1940´s to current days, emphasizing how paradigms evolved, and concluding with remarks about why we still have ample room for discovery in this topic.