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Thi Hibernation Research Paper

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Winter is coming! Winter being the time of year when migratory birds and animals begin to make their way to warmer locations. These animals doing this of course to increase their survival chances by bettering their surrounding with plenty of food and warmer weather. Do all animals move to these luxurious destinations to vacation over the cold wintery months? No unfortunately, for most of the animals in the northern temperate areas, they stay year-round. Thus, the question arrives of what exactly do these animals do in order to survive in this type of environment annually. Well, the answer to that question is that these animals actually go into a deep sleep or hibernation. Hibernation is a period where animals enter a dormant stage throughout the winter months. In regards to the animal domain, only mammals are able to maintain their body temperatures without the aid of their environment. Being, “warm blooded” allows for these animals to regulate their body temperature without restraints from the environmental temperature. Animals lives revolve around whether their actions are beneficially contributing to their overall fitness. …show more content…

Roughly half of all orders contain hibernating species, with most of these mammals being relatively small (Turbill, 2011). Hibernation can be viewed as an adaptation which allows endotherms to save energy. This is extremely important in regards to animals which live in rough seasonal locations year-round. Small mammals are able to store fat as well as lower their metabolic rates enough to hibernate or remain in dormancy for an entire year. This dormancy stage produces long periods of inactivity which in turn can reduce the risk of predators. Studies indicate that hibernation over the winter leads to an increased survival rate from predation. Hibernation can be correlated by an increase in annual survival and the animals total body

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