Olivia Hagen and Maeve Kolk
BIO 342: Animal Behavior
Hibernation in Endotherms
HIBERNATION IN ENDOTHERMS
What is Hibernation?
Hibernation is a periodic altering of an animal's typical mechanistic state of being, usually associated with a marked decrease in metabolic rate and basal temperature, resulting in induced torpor. This suppression of typical bodily function is thought to be favorable when inhabiting environments that go through drastic temperature changes or resource availability (Wu, 2013). Hibernation is unique to endotherms, which are animals that are capable of internal generation of heat.
Tinbergen's Four Clauses
In 1963, Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen developed a set of four categories into which questions regarding animal behavior can be sorted. Although modern biologists prefer a more integrative reading, Tinbergen's clauses remain the standard for classifying animal behavior. Click below to learn more about the individual clauses.
New Discoveries
Learn about new discoveries including animal adaptations to severe environmental stressors, such as hibernation and other states involving torpor.
The Storey Lab
Explore the Storey Lab, based at Carleton University. The Storey Lab specializes in research involving hibernation, freeze tolerance, anoxia, and other methods of extreme survival found throughout the animal kingdom.