#hibernation

The Secret to Longevity? Hibernation Stops the Aging ProcessWeight and lifespan are associated with one another. Typically, a larger body size could mean a shorter lifespan. This observation applies to both humans and animals. Yellow-bellied marmots, however, seem to be exempted from this, as they live longer than expected from their body weight. The question is, what is their secret towards a longer life? The answer is found in their hibernation.When yellow-bellied marmots hibernate for 7-8 months in their underground burrows, something intriguing happens within their bodies — their epigenetic age stop. A yellow-bellied marmot's epigenetic age only accelerates once again after the hibernation period. It isn't "just hibernation" that slows down aging, however. The reason for delayed aging is hibernation-related conditions. These are diminished food consumption, low body temperature, and reduced metabolism. Scientists say that there could be some benefits in inducing hibernation conditions in humans or human cells.(Image Credit: Inklein/ Wikimedia Commons)#Hibernation #Epigenetics #YellowBelliedMarmots

Keeping Track of Hibernating Hedgehogs by Attaching a GPS Backpack to Their SpinesWhen scientists were trying to figure out whether hedgehogs travel down from the alpine zones of the Mackenzie Basin, New Zealand, during the cold winter months, they were faced with the problem of tracking the spiky mammals.It turned out that the solution was quite simple: just attach a GPS transmitter like a backpack!"You can attach a transmitter directly to their spines," said Nick Foster of New University of Otago, "There is no collar, no contact with the skin, and there is no feeling in their spines, which are a similar material to our fingernails. Spines regrow after they are clipped and devices fall off as they naturally shed.The GPS transmitter backpack worked wonderfully and the scientists found out that instead of wandering downhill to lower elevations to escape the cold, the hedgehogs stayed put and hibernated instead.#hedgehog #GPS #hibernation #zoology #animalbehavior

Plateau Pikas Survive the Harsh Tibetan Winter by Eating Yak PoopSome animals deal with cold winters by going into hibernation, some burrow underground to stay warm and subsist on stockpiled food, while others migrate away to warmer climes but the cute fluffball-like animal called the plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau did none of these. Instead, they continue to forage in the cold.As the temperatures in their high-altitude home routinely dip to -30° C (-22° F), the grass that they typically eat becomes dry and brittle so the plateau pikas have to resort to a different and very unusual type of food. They eat yak poop.Ecophysiologist John Speakman at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and colleagues measured the temperature and daily energy expenditure of 156 plateau pikas and found that they reduce their metabolism by almost 30 percent, partly by cooling their bodies a couple of degrees at night and becoming less active during the day.At sites where there are yaks, there were more pikas but they were even less active. But why would the presence of yaks change the plateau pikas, wondered the researchers. They stumbled on the answer when they “found a sort of half-eaten yak turd in one of the burrows,” explained Speakman. The abundant yak poop could serve as an easily digestible meal that “massively reduces the amount of time [pikas] need to spend on the surface,” he added.Image: Pika (Ochotona curzoniae) in eastern Tibet by Kunsang/Wikimedia Commons#pika #plateaupika #winter #yak #poop #winter #zoology #yakpoop #hibernation