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Bats hibernating in a silver mine. 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.
Nocturnality is a behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is " nocturnal ", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed senses of hearing, smell, and specially adapted eyesight. [ 1 ]
Chronobiologyis a field of biologythat examines timing processes, including periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms, such as their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms.[1] These cycles are known as biological rhythms. Chronobiology comes from the ancient Greek χρόνος(chrónos, meaning "time"), and biology, which pertains ...
Dormancy is a period in an organism 's life cycle when growth, development, and (in animals) physical activity are temporarily stopped. This minimizes metabolic activity and therefore helps an organism to conserve energy. Dormancy tends to be closely associated with environmental conditions. Organisms can synchronize entry to a dormant phase ...
e. A hibernaculum (plural form: hibernacula) (Latin, "tent for winter quarters") is a place in which an animal seeks refuge, such as a bear using a cave to overwinter. The word can be used to describe a variety of shelters used by many kinds of animals, including insects, toads, lizards, snakes, bats, rodents, and primates of various species.
v. t. e. The group that includes mammals and birds, both "warm-blooded" homeothermic animals (in red) is polyphyletic. Homeothermy, homothermy or homoiothermy[1] is thermoregulation that maintains a stable internal body temperature regardless of external influence. This internal body temperature is often, though not necessarily, higher than the ...
e. Insect winter ecology describes the overwinter survival strategies of insects, which are in many respects more similar to those of plants than to many other animals, such as mammals and birds. Unlike those animals, which can generate their own heat internally (endothermic), insects must rely on external sources to provide their heat ...
Tremarctinae (Short-faced bears) Ursinae (All other bear species) Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae (/ ˈɜːrsɪdiː, - daɪ /). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout most of the Northern ...