Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Are we warm-blooded to fend off pathogens?
The idea is that mammals evolved higher core body temperatures to restrict the growth of fungal pathogens, which I think is neat. See also. That said, there are many species - particularly among the Ascomycetes - that are quite well-adapted to life at elevated temperatures. So while elevated body temperature probably does reduce the number of fungal species we must fend off (compared to insects, fish and plants for example), is it sufficient to explain the metabolic investment that mammals make? I just don't see how that could be the case.
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But if it's combined with the ability to hunt at night and avoid the cold-blooded predators that rule the daytime it's a pretty nice combo and that might have been enough to get the ball rolling.
Sure, although in that case I'd ask why we need to invoke fungal pathogens at all :-) What I've since realized is that fungi don't seem to have a problem exploring life at higher temperatures. There are several thermophilic species, and they're pretty diverse on the fungal tree.
I find your nocturnal hunting and predator-avoidance arguments a lot more compelling than fungal pathogen avoidance.
Sorry. What I realized was not that thermophilic fungi exist but that their phylogenetic range was pretty broad.
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