Freeze Avoidance in a Mammal: Body Temperatures Below 0°C in an Arctic Hibernator
Hibernating arctic ground squirrels, Spermophilus parryii , were able to adopt and spontaneously arouse from core body temperatures as low as -2.9°C without freezing. Abdominal body temperatures of ground squirrels hibernating in outdoor burrows were recorded with temperature-sensitive radiotransmit...
| Published in: | Science |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
1989
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.2740905 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.2740905 |
| Summary: | Hibernating arctic ground squirrels, Spermophilus parryii , were able to adopt and spontaneously arouse from core body temperatures as low as -2.9°C without freezing. Abdominal body temperatures of ground squirrels hibernating in outdoor burrows were recorded with temperature-sensitive radiotransmitter implants. Body temperatures and soil temperatures at hibernaculum depth reached average minima during February of -1.9° and -6°C, respectively. Laboratory-housed ground squirrels hibernating in ambient temperatures of -4.3°C maintained above 0°C thoracic temperatures but decreased colonic temperatures to as low as -1.3°C. Plasma sampled from animals with below 0°C body temperatures had normal solute concentrations and showed no evidence of containing antifreeze molecules. |
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