![]() ![]() Breathing also reduces to a great extent and may even stop in some cases. To combat this life threatening situation, they adopt an energy-efficient startegy that suspends their bodily activities for most of winter - effectively suppressing their energy demands and forcing them to efficiently manage the little energy resource they have.ĭuring hibernation, animals often (but not always) record a huge plunge in their internal body temperatures and basal metabolic rate. This shortage means a drop in their energy supply which results in their inability to supplement for the net heat loss and maintain a normal body condition prerequisite for survival.Īt times, even with a reliable food supply, ambient temperatures may drop so low that simply going out to search for food or maintaining a basal metabolic rate and normal core body temperature becomes everything next to impossible. To compound to such problem of energy loss, almost all hibernating animals are faced with a shortage of food resources during this frigid period. ![]() Note: A larger surface area to volume ratio usually implies that the animal is small bodied whereas a smaller surface area to volume ratio implies that the animal has a larger body. Most of them have a relatively large surface area to volume ratio (which increases their potential for heat loss), and cannot carry out any effective thermal insulation whether of internal or external means to prevent this loss. True hibernating animals generally cannot sustain a normal balance between their body’s heat production and loss during the winter season. Hibernation is a survival strategy adopted by some species of mammals and birds to cope with the inhospitable climate of the winter season. The animals that have been discovered to hibernate include: As a viable option, they resort into a state of dormancy (or inactivity) which significantly repress their energy demands throughout winter. ![]() For these animals, searching for food or simply maintaining a normal body condition in the chills of winter becomes energetically too costly or practically impossible. What animals hibernate?Īnimals that cannot cope with the energy constraints of the winter season hibernate. There’s a strange phenomenon called hibernation where animals basically sleep out the entire season of winter.įind out why animals choose do so, and which members of the animal kingdom are fond of this habit. ![]()
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