Jasmine Grover Content Strategy Manager
Content Strategy Manager
Regulators and conforms are two classifications of organisms based on how they respond to changes in the environment. Due to evolution, many species have evolved to maintain a constant internal environment that helps them in psychological functions and biochemical reactions. The process by which an organism maintains its internal environment constantly is known as homeostasis. When organisms maintain a constant internal body temperature that is suitable for their activities, it overall increases the “fitness” of the species so that they are able to work with maximum efficiency. Regulators are known to have the ability to maintain a constant body temperature and are able to survive harsh environmental conditions. Conformers, on the other hand, cannot maintain a constant range of internal temperature. In this article, we will read more about regulators and conformers and the differences between the two.
| Table of Contents |
Key Takeaways: Homeostasis, Regulators, Conformers, Thermoregulation, Osmoregulation, Endotherm, Ectotherm
Regulators
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Some organisms have the ability to maintain their own body temperatures (homeostasis) with changes in the external climate changes by regulating their internal body temperature.
- They are also known as an endotherm, which is a Greek word, meaning an organism that is able to regulate its internal body temperature by various activities.
- These organisms are capable of such regulations by the means of osmoregulation and thermoregulation.
- The process of maintaining an organism’s salt and iconic content of the body is known as osmoregulation.
- The process of maintaining a core internal temperature is known as thermoregulation.
- They are often known as warm-blooded animals.
- They occupy a large amount of the environmental niche due to their quick adaptation to climate change.
- In recent years with the progression of science, human beings have artificially been able to control their body temperature.
- For instance, we use air conditioners during the summer season to cool our bodies and in winter, we use heaters to gain some warmth.
- Similarly, many other activities like sweating, panting are used to cool off the body naturally and shivering, which can produce heat and help in raising the body temperature.
Regulator Animal
Partial-Regulators
The organisms that can regulate their own body temperature according to the external factors in the environment to a certain extent are known as partial regulators. These organisms can only do partial regulation to a certain extent, after that they conform or die.
Some examples of partial regulators are ground squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) and Sorex araneus.
Partial Regulator: Sorex Araneus
Read More: Hormones in Animals
Conformers
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The organisms that cannot maintain a constant internal temperature along with the changes in outside environmental change are known as conformers.
- They are also known as ectoderms as they are dependent on an outside source to regulate their body temperature.
- Conformers are referred to as cold-blooded. When they see a change in surroundings, they try to either adapt or migrate to a suitable environment.
- It has been seen that thermoregulation is quite expensive for many organisms, especially small birds and small animals like shrews. The heat gain or loss is a function of surface area.
- Small animals and birds have large surface areas and as a result, they tend to lose body heat more rapidly as compared to animals with relatively smaller surface areas. They have to expend much energy, hence generating body heat is metabolically very expensive for them. This is the reason why very small animals are hardly found in polar regions
- Lizards as chameleons basks in sunlight during the winter season for some added warmth. There are many insects and reptiles which follow this technique.
- Some species have evolved and have learned to regulate their temperature but it is only up to a certain limited range of environmental conditions. Beyond these, they only conform.
Conformer- Lizard
Read More: Asexual Reproduction in Animals
Difference between Regulators and Conformers
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The differences between animals that are regulators and animals that are conformers are:
| REGULATORS | CONFORMERS |
|---|---|
| Regulators have the ability to maintain their own body temperature (homeostasis). | Conformers do not have the ability to maintain their own body temperature |
| They are endotherms – Warm-blooded | They are ectotherms -Cold-blooded |
| They are spread out over various environmental niches | They are found in limited geographic regions |
| Regulators can artificially maintain body temperature, for example, use of AC and heater by a human. Furthermore, activities like sweating, panting, or shivering is done by many animals in order to maintain body temperature. | Conformers are unable to maintain body temperature through artificial means, so they either escape or die |
| They can perform osmoregulation and thermoregulation. | They can not perform osmoregulation or thermoregulation, hence go into aestivation or hibernation |
| Examples - Mammals, birds | Examples - 99% of all animals and nearly all plants |
Things To Remember
- Due to a diverse number of organisms, the spread out of regulators are more than conformers.
- Homeostasis is an important phenomenon that can be done by regulators. It is the ability of the organisms to maintain a constant internal body temperature.
- Regulators are able to perform osmoregulation, which is the constant regulation of the ionic and salt balance of the body while thermoregulation is the process of maintaining the core temperature of the body
- Small animals and birds are unable to perform thermoregulation hence they are not found in the polar region. (Conformer)
Read More:
Sample Questions
Ques. Distinguish between Ectotherms and Endotherms [3 marks]
Ans. The differences between endotherms and ectotherms are as tabulated below:
| Ectotherms | Endotherms |
|---|---|
| Ectotherms are organisms who are cold-blooded, unable to control their internal body temperature, and are independent of external sources for temperature regulation. | Endotherms are organisms that are warm-blooded, able to control their own body temperature through osmoregulation and thermoregulation. |
| Examples – Fishes, Reptiles, and Amphibians | Examples – Human, Polar bear |
Ques. What is hibernation? Give an example [3 marks]
Ans. Hibernation, which is also known as winter sleep is mostly shown by bears. It is the state of inactivity or low metabolic activity shown by the animals during winters. It also prevents any internal body change due to the fluctuation of temperature.
One example of an animal that adopts hibernation is bears.
Ques. What is aestivation? Give an example. [3 marks]
Ans. Aestivation is the prolonged dormancy to prevent excessive water loss and extreme fluctuation of body temperature due to high temperatures.
One example of animals showing aestivation is frogs.
Ques. Give one example for each of the following [5 marks]
a) Eurythermal plant species
b) An organism that can conform
c) A benthic animal
d)A stenothermal plant species
e) A hot water spring organism
f) An organism available in deep ocean trenches
Ans. The examples are:
- Eurythermal plant species – Red Algae
- An organism that can conform – Frog, Snail
- A benthic animal- Crabs, Sponges
- A stenothermal plant species – Conifers
- A hot water spring organism – Thermus aquaticus
- An organism available in deep ocean trenches – Sea Cucumber
Ques. What are Partial Regulators? (2 marks)
Ans. Partial regulators are organisms that can regulate their body temperature to a certain extent. They can tolerate a slight range of temperature but they conform after they have reached their limit. Hence, this is like a special mechanism present in some organisms.
Ques. Why are some organisms called eurythermal and others stenohaline? [2 marks]
Ans. Eurythermal are organisms that can thrive in a wide range of temperatures (Example -cow, goat, man) whereas stenohaline organisms can tolerate and thrive in a wide range of salinity (Examples -Goldfish [Carassius auratus]).
Ques. How do animals like fishes and snails avoid summer-related unfavorable conditions? [1 mark]
Ans. In order to escape the summer-related unfavorable conditions, fishes migrate and snails perform aestivation or summer sleep.
Ques. Explain the response of all communities to the environment over time. [ALL INDIA ENTRANCE TEST 2011] [3 marks]
Ans. Regulators will maintain a constant body temperature through the help of homeostasis
- In conformers, which includes 99% of all animals and almost all plants, the internal body temperature differs with the external change in temperature.
- Some organisms, opt for migration that is they leave the place when it is unfavorable and return when the conditions are again favorable.
- Some organisms escape timely in order to avoid metabolic stress, for example, aestivation, and hibernation.
Ques. "Organisms can be conformers or regulators." Explain. [5 marks]
Ans. Conformers- An organism that is not able to maintain a constant internal body temperature is called a Conformers. Nearly 99% of all animals and almost all plants are in this category. Their body temperature is not constant. Examples - frogs, fishes.
Regulators - An organism that is able to maintain a constant internal core body temperature is called a regulator. They are able to maintain this change due to osmoregulation and thermoregulation. Examples- birds and mammals.
Ques. Why there are more Conformers in the animal world than regulators? [3 marks]
Ans. There are more Conformers in the animal world than regulators due to the fact that 99% of the animals cannot maintain their own core internal temperature. They do not have a constant internal body temperature.
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