Some Components of Hibernation Rhythms

Abstract

At low ambient temperatures some small mammals drastically reduce their body temperature and enter a state of dormancy known as hibernation. They exhibit endogenous rhythms of heterothermy/homeothermy and body mass fluctuations with the period close to one year. At high ambient temperature only body mass cycling is expressed for almost one year as well. The effect of temperature on circannual periods of some biological rhythms in different hibernators in free-running conditions as well as the circaseptal character of the intrahibernation rhythm of periodic arousals are reviewed.