Hibernation is a regulated biological process in endothermic animals characterized by prolonged, seasonally induced torpor with profound reductions in metabolic rate, body temperature, heart rate, and respiratory frequency to conserve energy during periods of resource scarcity, typically winter. It is controlled by neuroendocrine mechanisms integrating circannual and circadian rhythms, photoperiod, and environmental cues, and involves shifts in fuel utilization from carbohydrates to lipid oxidation, cytoprotective adaptations, and altered gene expression supporting cellular stress resistance. Hibernation includes multiday torpor bouts interspersed with spontaneous arousals, during which tissue repair, immune function, and neural homeostasis are partially restored, thereby enabling long-term survival under energetically constrained conditions.
A large-scale experiment shows that warmth brings bees and wasps out of hibernation earlier—leaving some of them with poorer starting conditions. This is particularly true for species in cooler regions that emerge during ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 13, 2026
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Earth is teeming with life: creatures big and small have spread and adapted to vastly different environments. Many animals can also change their physiology—how their bodies function—in response to local fluctuations. Just ...
Ecology
Mar 30, 2026
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Scientists at McMaster University have uncovered new evidence that the fungus causing white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease affecting bats, may be more widespread in Western Canada than existing testing methods reveal. In ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 25, 2026
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Britain's hazel dormice are getting lighter in spring but fatter in autumn as our climate changes, suggests new research in Scientific Reports. The study, titled "The effects of climate and land cover on hazel dormouse (Muscardinus ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 25, 2026
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41
When winter sets in and food becomes scarce, some mammals hibernate, entering a state of deep rest that slashes their energy needs and allows them to fast for months. However, fasting deprives them of essential nutrients, ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 12, 2026
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During hibernation, brown bears spend up to six months lying almost completely still, without eating, drinking or exercising. When spring arrives, they leave their dens with their muscles largely intact.
Ecology
Mar 1, 2026
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131
Millions of bats in North America have died from white-nose syndrome, and a new study from the University of Waterloo explores why and how the fungal disease has devastated bat populations on this continent, while it has ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 12, 2026
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The life of one of the most remote grizzly bear populations in the world is being documented by the animals themselves, with collar cameras that provide a rare glimpse of how they survive on Alaska's rugged and desolate North ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 1, 2026
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149
Aging muscles heal more slowly after injury—a frustrating reality familiar to many older adults. A UCLA study conducted in mice reveals an unexpected cause: Stem cells in aged muscle accumulate higher levels of a protein ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 31, 2026
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664
Whether you call him groundhog, woodchuck, whistle-pig or use the full genus and species name, Marmota monax, the nation's premier animal weather forecaster has been making headlines as Punxsutawney Phil for decades.
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2026
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