Hibernation
zoology
Hibernation, a state of greatly reduced metabolic activity and lowered body temperature adopted by certain mammals as an adaptation to adverse winter conditions. A brief treatment of hibernation follows. For full treatment, see dormancy. The term hibernation is commonly applied to all types of winter dormancy in vertebrate animals. Thus defined, hibernators include many fishes, amphibians, and reptiles that overwinter with body temperatures near freezing, as well as bears and a few other mammals that...
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