What is the link between how an animal maintains its body temperature and how their circulatory system is set up

Answer 1

Circulation and body temperature are intimately related as mentioned in the another answer to your question. That is why in most textbooks on circulation, at least in comparative physiology, one of the major jobs of circulation is regulation of body temperature. If you think about it, when you exercise, your face, hands, etc may become red or flushed. Why? Your body is sending the warming blood from your core as a mammal up to the surface, where the skin has tremendous surface area to rid the body of heat. In humans, for example, this heat escape is enhanced by sweating and a negative feedback system like explained in another answer to your question. But also think about turtles basking in the sun on a log. These turtles will spread their legs out and up to capture radiation from the sun. This warms their surface blood, which is then circulated back to the body to warm them up!

If you are interested, but I won't explain here as it would be too long to do here, their are direct anatomical links of circulation to body temperature control. For example, in countercurrent heat exchangers say between the fins of great white sharks and the cold water they live in or between the cold winter day air and the deer legs. Contact me if interested in the heat exchangers or comment here and I can explain in a separate response.

Answer 2

Maintaining body temperature and the circulatory system are very important for animals and the process of homeostasis. If we isolate the circulatory system in itself, it may not be able to maintain a steady body temperature in response to the environment or changes in things like environmental temperature and weather. It would need another important system to send and receive messages to do so and control when to raise or lower internal temperatures to account for environmental changes. The name of the system for this link is the system that is involved in sending and receiving messages.