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Hibernation. Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It is most commonly used to pass through winter months – called overwintering.
Sleep can follow a physiological or behavioral definition. In the physiological sense, sleep is a state characterized by reversible unconsciousness, special brainwave patterns, sporadic eye movement, loss of muscle tone (possibly with some exceptions; see below regarding the sleep of birds and of aquatic mammals), and a compensatory increase following deprivation of the state, this last known ...
Aestivation. Aestivation (Latin: aestas (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and a lowered metabolic rate, that is entered in response to high temperatures and arid ...
Other semi-aquatic mammals, such as water voles, muskrats, ... They do not hibernate during winter, and spend much of their time in their lodges. [9] [24] [91]
Groundhogs hibernate longer in northern latitudes than southern latitudes. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] To survive the winter, they are at their maximum weight shortly before entering hibernation. [ 47 ] When the groundhog enters hibernation, there is a drop in body temperature to as low as 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 °C), heart rate falls to 4–10 beats per ...
Like other animals, mammals hibernate during seasons of harsh environmental conditions and resource scarcity. As it requires less energy to maintain homeostasis and survive when an individual is hibernating, this is a cost-effective strategy to increase survival rates.
Groundhogs are one of the largest mammals that hibernate every year. In late summer and early fall, groundhogs start chowing down even more vigorously to prepare themselves for hibernation, when a ...
Animals that hibernate include bats, ground squirrels and other rodents, mouse lemurs, the European hedgehog and other insectivores, monotremes and marsupials. Although hibernation is almost exclusively seen in mammals, some birds, such as the common poorwill, may hibernate.