We explain what hibernation is, what it is for and its differences with hibernation, dormancy and estivation. What animals hibernate.
What is hibernation?
Hibernation is the ability of some animals to adapt to very low temperatures of winter, through different mechanisms of internal regulation of the metabolism. It induces a hypothermia-like state in them for days, weeks, or even months, and then they recover and return to life. life when temperatures are more suitable.
This is a typical mechanism of warm-blooded animals (homeotherms), although some species of cold-blooded animals (poikilotherms) have also shown behaviors similar.
Generally, the animal that is about to hibernate chooses a suitable place for it, where it feels safe. It then slows down its vital sleep functions during the coldest period, during which it relies on the food reserves built up in its body during the months leading up to winter.
Your metabolism slows down, your breaths slow down, and your animal He seems to be in a deep coma, from which he can wake up when the time is right.
Hibernation operates in different ways, depending on the species of animal, but it is part of the set of strategies that, in the face of the most extreme cold climates, put into practice the living beings. However, the exact mechanisms of its operation are not fully known yet.
Hibernation or hibernation
Although the terms "hibernation" and "hibernation" sound similar and in principle have the same purpose, they are not the same. Both refer to particular actions that, during winter, animals undertake to take refuge from the cold.
On the one hand, hibernation involves isolation and indulgence in deep slumber. It requires weeks of preparation and accumulation of energy resources in the organism.
On the other hand, wintering is a displacement geographical towards latitudes warmer, where the animals wait for the cold to subside and thus be able to return home without suffering the rigors of winter. Some animals hibernate and others, on the other hand, hibernate.
Dormancy
Dormancy is a process similar to hibernation, in which living beings (animals and plants) respond to adverse environmental conditions by assuming a form of latency, that is, of metabolic slowness. Dormant animals suspend their growth processes and developingas well as your physical activity.
Hibernation, estivation, dipause, and brumation are considered forms of dormancy. There are two forms of dormancy, according to the relationship between the living being and the threatening environment:
- Predictive dormancy. It occurs when the living being begins its dormancy process before the environment becomes hostile, that is, as a forecast of the coming unfavorable climatic environment.
- Consistent dormancy. It occurs when the living being begins its dormancy process as a reaction to the change in the environment, that is, once said change has already occurred.
Hibernating animals
There are many animals capable of hibernating, but the best known are the bears of the polar and circumpolar regions, such as the brown bear (Ursus arctos).
The pachuca nightjar (Phalaeonoptilus nuttalli) North American, some species of bats of the temperate zone (family Vespertilinidae), the common European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), wild dogs (family Sciuridae) and some European rodents such as marmots.
Hibernation and estivation
Hibernation and estivation are reactions to extreme weather, but in completely opposite cases: hibernation occurs in very cold climates and estivation occurs in climates very hot and dry. Estivation is common in tropical animal species or in regions of enormous solar impact, such as deserts.
Many animals resort to burying themselves in mud to preserve their body temperature and protect themselves from drought, while others simply resort to numbness and immobility. Estivation usually lasts a few weeks or even months, but there are species of batrachians in which there is a prolonged estivation of which only some individuals return to life.