Homeothermic Animals
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
Homeothermic animals, also known as warm-blooded animals, possess regulatory mechanisms that maintain a relatively constant body temperature independent of environmental temperature. This includes birds and mammals, with specific temperature ranges and variations noted for different species.
Encyclopedia article (1928–1936)
HOMEOTHERMIC ANIMALS (from Greek homoios- equal, same and therme- heat), or warm-blooded animals (syn. homeothermic and homothermic animals), are those animals that possess a regulatory apparatus allowing them to maintain body temperature approximately constant and almost independent of the environmental temperature. Such animals are birds and mammals. In birds, body temperature averages 41-42°. In mammals: in rabbits - 39.6°, in guinea pigs - 38.6°, in goats - 39.6°, in sheep - 39.3°, in dogs - 38.7°, in cats - 38.9°, in horses - 37.7°, in monkeys - 38.3°, in humans - 37.0°. Daily fluctuations in temperature in mammals average approximately 1°, while in some birds (thrush) they reach 4°. Newborn animals and the lowest mammals, monotremes, have less ability to maintain their body temperature independently of external temperature; for example, in the echidna, when external temperature decreases from 40° to 4-8°, body temperature drops from 37° to 27°. Some homeothermic animals, mammals (hedgehogs, bats), in winter enter a special state of hibernation, during which their body temperature drops and shows fluctuations parallel to fluctuations in environmental temperature.
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“Homeothermic Animals.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/homeothermic-animals/