Why do most mammals have a higher body temperature than humans?

Question

Why do most mammals have a higher body temperature than humans?

In: 0

Answer 1

There’s no easy answer to that because there is no rule of thumb to predict which mammalian species will have a higher body temperature than others.

The short of it is that body temperature is optimised for the metabolic processes of that specific species. Animals use all kind of chemical processes that work optimally at a specific temperature and suboptimally or not at all at deviating temperatures.

That’s why many cold-blooded animals micromanage their body temperature by finding warmth or cool as needed. They save a lot of energy by not producing their own body heat.

Mammals do produce their own body heat but different species have different metabolic needs and varying metabolic processes. As a result, the optimum body temperature for best performance also from species to species.

At the end of the day, the range for all mammals only varies from roughly 97 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit between different species so it’s only a pretty modest spread.