Which animals are capable of perspiring?

[eilute]

Sweating appears to be a quite useful adaption, however, it appears that many animals lack this ability. What animals besides humans are able to perspire? Can chimps, rats, raccoons, elephants, horses, etc. perspire? Can any non-mammals perspire?

 

[infosponge]

All I know for sure is that most common mammals cannot perspire. The only exception I am aware of is a horse. They can and do. Ride one for a long time in the summer, bareback, and it gets quite noticable.--lol

 

[jimbob200521]

if you look at perspiring in a primitave sense, then i dont think it would be that useful, as far as hunting goes. sweat smells, and that could attract a preditor, not a good thing 🙁

 

[theMan]

sweet doesnt smell, its just ferimones and other things like bacteria that smells.

 

[tiap]

Originally posted by: theman
sweet doesnt smell, its just ferimones and other things like bacteria that smells.

I believe the British did a sexual study and found that natural male persperation scent aroused women subconsiously.

 

[jimbob200521]

Originally posted by: theman
sweet doesnt smell, its just ferimones and other things like bacteria that smells.

but arent those things usually in our sweet, meaning our sweet smells, whether the sweet smells directly or not?

 

[ZeroNine8]

wikipedia says that *all* mammals have sweat glands in the skin and have the ability to perspire. The majority of mammals, however, don't have that many glands and don't use this as the primary means of keeping cool. Maybe that's why there's a lot of panting going on in the animal kingdom.

 

[Bassyhead]

Originally posted by: ZeroNine8
wikipedia says that *all* mammals have sweat glands in the skin and have the ability to perspire. The majority of mammals, however, don't have that many glands and don't use this as the primary means of keeping cool. Maybe that's why there's a lot of panting going on in the animal kingdom.

That makes more sense. Sometimes if it's pretty hot out the top of my dog's snout or even his ears will be slightly damp, but there's fur and everything and so the sweat glands aren't as effective as panting.

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: ZeroNine8
wikipedia says that *all* mammals have sweat glands in the skin and have the ability to perspire. The majority of mammals, however, don't have that many glands and don't use this as the primary means of keeping cool. Maybe that's why there's a lot of panting going on in the animal kingdom.

Even the aquatic ones? hm...

 

[ZeroNine8]

yep, even aquatic ones.

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

Originally posted by: ZeroNine8
yep, even aquatic ones.

Something I've always wondered about...

How exactly does sweating happen underwater? When skin pores open what prevents the water outside from seeping in?

 

[Calin]

Originally posted by: BespinReactorShaft

Originally posted by: ZeroNine8
yep, even aquatic ones.

Something I've always wondered about...

How exactly does sweating happen underwater? When skin pores open what prevents the water outside from seeping in?

When submarines launch torpedoes, what prevents water to enter the submarine? It's the same way to perspiration glands - there is a higher pressure inside the gland than outside in the water.

 

[0roo0roo]

dogs sweat through their feet.

sweating through fur isn't so great.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
dogs sweat through their feet.

sweating through fur isn't so great.

Being wet is never good, especially in cold weather.

 

[mdchesne]

they lack the ability to sweat because sweat gives off scent which predators can easily pick up.


Funny Proof:

put a mouse, who cannot sweat, into the winderness with a starving coyote (alos no sweat, but w/e). the mouse won't be as easily smelt by the cyote because it's not sweating away it's position.

meanwhile!
take a fan chubby sweating man who sits behind his desk all day in an non-airconditioned office in Panama who posts on anandtech all day long instead of catching the Tyco CEO b@st@rds who stole $600 million form the company, who's now sweating perfusely because the government tagged him, but him in the wilderness with a starving lion and he'll be dinner by hour's end.

 

[dcaron]

Originally posted by: BespinReactorShaft

Originally posted by: ZeroNine8
yep, even aquatic ones.

Something I've always wondered about...

How exactly does sweating happen underwater? When skin pores open what prevents the water outside from seeping in?

I'm not sure tha aquatic mammals do sweat. I thought that the way sweat helped you stay cool was from the evaporation of the water. Water does not evaporate under water. Perhaps 'sweat' glands on aquatic animals only acts as a scent gland or something.

 

[ZeroNine8]

Mice have sweat glands (google "mouse sweat glands" and see all the scientific article summaries that pop up).

Coyotes, just like all dogs, have sweat glands almost exclusively on their paws.

Both of these animals might sweat considerably less than humans, but they can and do sweat.

 

[rahvin]

Sweating as the primary cooling system is IIRC a unique human adapation. (notice the word primary in the there before some of you all start going off). It's believed to have been highly advantageous and one of the reasons humans took a leap forward evolutionarily and according to what I have read was an adaption neanderthal man did not have and wass a contributing factor to his extinction after the ice age ended.

Sweating is a double edged sword because the organism has to be smart enough to remove the sweat in environments where it's not advantageous (such as sweating in cold weather), humans are intelligent enough to dry off in these situations which means for sweating to be our primary cooling system we needed the brain to be large enough to accomidate and adapt our environment to the consequences of such a system.