How hibernating squirrels go more than 6 months without water– and do not get thirsty
For 6 to 8 months of each year, thirteen-lined ground squirrels do not leave their little, below ground dens. Underneath North America's meadows, they suffer the winter hibernating, with no stockpile of food or source of water. They do not consume or consume for the whole period. Gradually, researchers are unwinding the secret of how and why.
Particular brain areas associated with activating thirst are highly reduced in hibernating ground squirrels, even throughout the interim durations where the rodents appear active, according to a research study released November 28 in the journal Science. Integrated with previous findings from the very same laboratory group, the brand-new research study provides clearness on a severe mammalian technique for remaining underground for so long.
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