One of the most unique organisms amongst the reptile species is the warm blooded lizard, Tegu. These lizards have the capability of heating themselves 10 degree Celsius more than their surrounding temperature.
Tegu usually switch on their unique heating mechanism only at a certain time of the year. This discovery has given rise to a controversy pertaining to the body temperature of dinosaurs, whether they were warm blooded or cold blooded or something in between like the lizards. Reptiles, amphibians and fish usually absorb heat from their surroundings, unlike mammals and birds which can heat themselves up.
Glenn Tattersall of Brock University in Canada who co-led the research along with Cleo Leite at the Federal University of Sao Carlos in Brazil says that “It may also provide a clue to how warm-bloodedness, or endothermy, first evolved.”
Glenn and his team studied the Argentinian black and white Tegu, which are 60-90cm long…
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