BACKGROUND Golden-mantled ground squirrels (S. lateralis) are anorexic during the winter and survive by exploiting hibernation to reduce energetic demands. The liver normally plays a critical role in fueling and regulating metabolism and one might expect significant changes in hepatobiliary function with hibernation. We analyzed bile collected from animals in summer, animals in winter that were...

In mammals, the circadian master clock generates daily rhythms of body temperature (T(b)) that act to entrain rhythms in peripheral circadian oscillators. The persistence and function of circadian rhythms during mammalian hibernation is contentious, and the factors that contribute to the reestablishment of rhythms after hibernation are unclear. We collected regular measures of core T(b) (every ...

Amicable social interactions can enhance fitness in many species, have negligible consequences for some, and reduce fitness in others. For yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), a facultatively social rodent species with demonstrable costs of social relationships during the active season, the effects of sociality on overwinter survival have yet to be fully investigated. Here, we explore...

Small hibernating rodents have greater maximum lifespans and hence appear to age more slowly than similar-sized non-hibernators. We tested for a direct effect of hibernation on somatic maintenance and ageing by measuring seasonal changes in relative telomere length (RTL) in the edible dormouse Glis glis. Average RTL in our population did not change significantly over the hibernation season, and...

The acquisition of conceptual knowledge is a central aim in science education. In this study, an interdisciplinary hypermedia-media assisted learning unit about hibernation and thermodynamics was developed and evaluated. But the assessment of interdisciplinary knowledge is not trivial. Therefore, concept mapping procedures were used to assess the cognitive effects within this complex knowledge ...