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Climate variability poses a threat to cold blooded animals
https://www.murdoch.edu.au/news/articles/climate-variability-poses-a-threat-to-cold-blooded-animalsPosted on
Friday 20 March 2026
A new study has found that cold blooded animals (ectotherms) are unable to adjust physiologically to daily temperature fluctuations, a limitation that could leave them increasingly vulnerable as climate change drives even greater temperature variability.
…
“By analysing metabolic, locomotor, cardiovascular and enzyme activity across a wide range of ectotherms, we expected to see signs that these animals adjust their physiology to become less sensitive to daily temperature change,” Dr Gomez Isaza said.
“Instead, we found the opposite. There was no consistent evidence that ectotherms fine‑tune their physiology in response to these predictable fluctuations.
…
“Over the longer term, their resilience may hinge on genetic adaptation rather than day‑to‑day physiological flexibility, which raises real concerns as temperature variability continues to increase.”
…
Daniel Gomez Isaza, Essie Rodgers; Unresponsive to change: Ectotherms fail to adjust physiology to daily temperature variation. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 19 March 2026; 381 (1946): 20250055. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2025.0055
Friday 20 March 2026
A new study has found that cold blooded animals (ectotherms) are unable to adjust physiologically to daily temperature fluctuations, a limitation that could leave them increasingly vulnerable as climate change drives even greater temperature variability.
…
“By analysing metabolic, locomotor, cardiovascular and enzyme activity across a wide range of ectotherms, we expected to see signs that these animals adjust their physiology to become less sensitive to daily temperature change,” Dr Gomez Isaza said.
“Instead, we found the opposite. There was no consistent evidence that ectotherms fine‑tune their physiology in response to these predictable fluctuations.
…
“Over the longer term, their resilience may hinge on genetic adaptation rather than day‑to‑day physiological flexibility, which raises real concerns as temperature variability continues to increase.”
…
Unfortunately, "genetic adaptation” is not a very rapid process (unlike global warming.)