Hibernaculum (zoology)
| Part of a series on |
| Animal dormancy |
|---|
 |
A hibernaculum plural form: hibernacula (Latin, "tent for winter quarters") is a place in which a creature seeks refuge, such as a bear using a cave to overwinter.[1][2] The word can be used to describe a variety of shelters used by many kinds of animals, for instance, insects, toads, lizards, snakes, bats, rodents, and primates of various classes.
-
An artificial hibernaculum or 'Bug Hotel' -
A simple burrow, an example of hibernacula used for snakes -
Gray bats utilizing a natural cave as a hibernacula
Mammals
Like other animals, mammals hibernate during seasons of harsh environmental conditions and resource scarcity. As it requires less energy to maintain homeostasis and survive when an individual is hibernating, this is a cost-effective strategy to increase survival rates.[3][4] Hibernation is usually perceived as taking place during winter, as in the most well-known hibernators bears and bats,[5][4] but can also occur during the dry season when there is little food or water, as in the mouse lemurs of Madagascar.[3] Given that mammals can spend anywhere from 1–9 months hibernating, their choice in hibernaculum in essential in determining their survival.[4]
Many mammals that use hibernacula are small-bodied creatures, and include marsupials, rodents, and primates, among others. Most of these small-bodied mammals hibernate in simple holes in the ground, though some use complex systems of tunnels and burrows. Mountain pygmy possums in New South Wales, Australia awaken occasionally and leave their hibernacula for up to five days at a time. This occurs most often during the first few months of hibernation, with the possums leaving one hibernacula in favor of another, seemingly in an effort to find the hibernacula with the most suitable microclimate.[6] The reddish-grey mouse lemur also wakes and leaves the hibernacula spontaenously and for brief periods of time.[3] There can be hibernacula differences even within a species. In Columbian ground squirrels, hibernacula size is proportional to the weight of the individual occupying it, with adults having deeper hibernacula than juveniles. Most juveniles choose to hibernate within 20 meters of their mother's burrow; those that don't have higher mortality rates.[7]
Bats favor larger hibernacula where large groups may roost together, including natural caves, mines, cellars, and other kinds of underground sites and man-made structures, like ice-houses.[8] Within these hibernacula, the bats are still highly-tuned to environmental factors. Little brown bats in northern latitudes hibernate for up to 8 months during the winter, and leave their roosts in the warm spring weather when insect prey is plentiful again. A 13-year study demonstrated that bats gauge the outside temperature by being attuned to the airflow at the hibernacula entrance, which is driven by temperature differences between inside and outside the hibernacula, allowing bats to leave when the temperature begins to warm.[5]
See also
Notes
- ^ toad winter residence
- ^ Reptilian Brumation
- ^ a b c Kobbe S. & Dausmann K. H. (2009). Hibernation in Malagasy mouse lemurs as a strategy to counter environmental challenge. Naturwissenschaften, 96(10):1221-1227. Jump up^
- ^ a b c Pigeon, Karine E.; Côté, Steeve D.; Stenhouse, Gordon B. (2016-07-01). "Assessing den selection and den characteristics of grizzly bears". The Journal of Wildlife Management. 80 (5): 884–893. doi:10.1002/jwmg.1069. ISSN 1937-2817.
- ^ a b Meyer, Gretchen A.; Senulis, Joseph A.; Reinartz, James A. (2016-12-05). "Effects of temperature and availability of insect prey on bat emergence from hibernation in spring". Journal of Mammalogy. 97 (6): 1623–1633. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyw126. ISSN 0022-2372.
- ^ Körtner, Gerhard; Geiser, Fritz (1998-01-01). "Ecology of natural hibernation in the marsupial mountain pygmy-possum (Burramys parvus)". Oecologia. 113 (2): 170–178. doi:10.1007/s004420050365. ISSN 0029-8549.
- ^ Young, Paul J. (1990-01-01). "Structure, Location and Availability of Hibernacula of Columbian Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus columbianus)". The American Midland Naturalist. 123 (2): 357–364. doi:10.2307/2426563.
- ^ Van der Meij, Thomas; Van Strien, A. J.; Haysom, K. A.; Dekker, J.; Russ, J.; Biala, K.; Bihari, Z.; Jansen, E.; Langton, S. (2015-05-01). "Return of the bats? A prototype indicator of trends in European bat populations in underground hibernacula". Mammalian Biology - Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde. Special Issue: Bats as Bioindicators. 80 (3): 170–177. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2014.09.004.
 | This zoology–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to Latin words and phrases is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |