Producer: Popular Science China
Production: Zhao Xumao, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Producer: Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
The ancients had a more sensitive perception of the generation of the seasons. Of the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar, the third solar term is stinging, according to the "Xia Xiaozheng" record: "The first moon is stinged, and the words are stinged." All things are shocked, and the earthquake is thunder, so it is called sting. It was the sting that frightened and went away. "After the sting, the weather is warm, the grass and trees are budding, and the hibernating animals begin to slowly awaken.
Hibernation is a strategy for some animals to cope with harsh environments, which is scientifically called "dormant state". "The gentleman hides the instrument in his body and waits for the time to move", with the arrival of the sting, the animal ushers in its own opportunity.
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Weak Nighthawk – The only bird that hibernates
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Weak Nighthawk (Image from the Internet)
Most birds migrate to avoid harsh environments or switch to winter feathers to withstand the cold, which has long been believed, but the weak nighthawk is an exception.
The weak nighthawk, also known as the North American Nighthawk, is the only bird among birds to hibernate. They inhabit the southern edge of the United States and prefer dry environments, sparse grasslands, and even stony deserts.
In 1948, Dr. Edmund Jaeger first described the phenomenon of weak nighthawk hibernation. When winter comes, the weak nighthawk will find a rock crevice or rotten wood cave to hide and hibernate. When hibernating, they consume only 7% of their energy as normal, and remain in deep dormancy for weeks or months. Once hibernation is over, it takes them 7 hours to return to normal mobility.
Fat-tailed bougainvillea – the only primate that hibernates
Fat-tailed bougainvillea (image from the Internet)
Located in the southeast of the African continent, Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and the largest island on the Tropic of Cancer that crosses the Indian Ocean. On the island, plateaus, hills, volcanoes, and basins are intricately distributed, and in the rainforest live a generous and elegant primate, the fat-tailed bougain. It was discovered and named as early as 1812, but little has been known about its habits.
The fat-tailed bougainous lemur is the only species of primates to hibernate (dormant), and although they live in the tropics, they also choose to hibernate in order to survive the food-poor dry season. Fat-tailed bougainvillea begins to dormant during the dry season from June to July, sleeping for up to seven months before waking up again in January of the following year. Throughout the dry season, it survives on the fat on its tail, and after hibernation, they can lose half their weight. Unlike animals hibernating in temperate regions, during hibernation, it does not need to control the temperature of the body, and its body temperature fluctuates according to the external temperature.
<h1>Marmot – Hibernation champion</h1>
Alpine marmot (image from the Internet)
The European Alps, at altitudes ranging from 800 to 3200 meters, are active areas for Alpine marmots. If you count the length of hibernation, alpine marmots can be called the hibernation champions of nature, either in hibernation or on the way to preparing for hibernation.
At the beginning of summer, Alpine marmots collect old stems of plants in their burrows to pave the way for hibernation. They begin to hibernate in September-October and can last up to 8 months. Alpine marmots huddle together when they hibernate, relying on stored fat for a long hibernation period. During hibernation, their body temperature drops to about the same level as the outside world, the heartbeat drops to 5 times per minute, and the breathing is adjusted to 1-3 times per minute.
Banded snakes – collective hibernation
Banded snake (image from Visual China)
In North America, through forests, fields, grasslands to streams, wetlands, meadows, swamps, a beautiful and elegant snake can usually be found at the water's edge, the banded snake, which is usually embellished with yellow stripes on a black, brown or green background.
The mating behavior of the banded snake belongs to one of the "deepest routines" in the animal kingdom. They generally hibernate en masse, and in early spring, when the banded snake awoke from hibernation, the male usually arose before the female because it was plotting a war without smoke.
Some male snakes with many "heart eyes" will lure other male snakes away from the cave by releasing a sexual pheromone to pretend to be a female snake. When these deceived male snakes were taken away, it immediately resumed its "male body" and quickly rushed back to the cave, being the first to mate with all the female snakes here. In the world of banded snakes, there are usually many more males than females, and during the mating season they form "mating balls" in which one or two females are completely overwhelmed by ten or more male snakes.
Sometimes a male snake will mate with the female before hibernation, and the female will store sperm inside until spring, when the female will fertilize her eggs. If the female snake mates again in the spring on this day, the sperm in the autumn will degenerate, and the spring sperm will fertilize her eggs.
<h1>Four-clawed tortoise – not only hibernating but also summer sleep</h1>
Four-clawed tortoise (image from the Internet)
Walk northwest of China, through deserts and rolling hills to Huocheng County in Xinjiang's Ili Prefecture, the only place where the four-clawed tortoise lives in China.
The four-clawed tortoise, also known as the steppe tortoise, is a national first-class protected animal, one of the oldest living reptiles, and one of only three species of tortoises in the world. The four-clawed tortoise has a very strong carapace on its body, which is the armor that it is proud of. When attacked, it can retract its head, tail and limbs back into the shell to ensure its own safety.
The four-clawed tortoise is a carnivorous animal that feeds on worms , snails , shrimp and small fish , as well as on the stems and leaves of plants. The most peculiar thing about this tortoise is that it not only hibernates, but also sleeps in summer. Every year, it is stung in mid-March, and after July, it gradually enters the summer sting.
<h1>Polar bears – can also give birth when hibernating</h1>
Polar bear (image from Nicktu Network)
The vast Arctic, a world of snow and ice, is the territory of the world's largest land predator, the polar bear. Polar bears prey on seals, its sense of smell is very developed, it can detect seals as far away as 1.6 kilometers away, and its vision is also very good, good at seeing long-range views. Polar bears are also excellent swimmers, able to swim at a speed of 10 km/h for several days. A polar bear has been recorded swimming in the icy Bering Sea for nine consecutive days, traveling 700 kilometers to the ice far from the land, and then traveling another 1800 kilometers. When walking on the snowy ground, the average speed of the polar bear remains around 5.6 km/h, but its sprint speed can reach 40 km/h.
In response to the harsh climatic conditions of the Arctic, polar bears also hibernate locally before the arrival of winter. Compared to other hibernating animals, polar bears have a smaller drop in body temperature and breathing rate during hibernation, and can wake up at any time. In addition, polar bears hibernate only for a longer period of time without eating or drinking, rather than throughout the winter. What is even more amazing is that pregnant polar bear female bears can still give birth and breastfeed as usual during hibernation, and when they wake up in the spring, they can go out with the bears, hibernating and giving birth without delay.
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