

Smaller animals, however, stockpile food to consume gradually throughout the winter. Larger animals consume a lot of food in the summer and early fall and turn it into fat to utilize as fuel during the winter. The majority of animals that hibernate need to store enough food or fat for the entire winter.Torpor is a general term for states in which animals temporarily lower their metabolic rate to get through a difficult season. The fossils show that torpor, which is a general term for hibernation and similar states in which animals temporarily lower their metabolic rate to get through a difficult season, arose in vertebrates even before mammals and dinosaurs evolved.According to sources, evidence points to a mammal that lived in Antarctica during the Early Triassic, some 250 million years ago, entering a state resembling sleep. New research suggests that this kind of adaptation has a long history.Key Facts & Information BACKGROUND HISTORY
#ANIMALS THAT HIBERNATE IN WINTER WORKSHEET DOWNLOAD#
See the fact file below for more information on Hibernation, or you can download our 27-page Hibernation worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment. All forms of winter dormancy in vertebrate animals are often referred to as hibernation. Hibernation is a state of drastically reduced metabolic activity and body temperature that some mammals adopt as a defense against harsh winter weather.


OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS OF DORMANCY: HIBERNATION.Download the Hibernation Facts & Worksheets.
