What happens when an animal is in torpor?

Torpor occurs when an animal lowers its heart and respiratory rate down to a point that saves energy, but is not the near death of hibernation. Humans lower their heart and respiratory rate every night when they go to sleep, but torpor slows the rate down even further.

What type of adaptation is torpor?

Torpor, a temporary drop in body temperature and metabolic rate often accompanied by failure to eat or micturate/defecate, is an adaptation of endothermic vertebrates that enables them to survive the energetic demands of cold ambient temperature.

How do animals conserve energy through torpor?

The common poorwill conserves energy when food is limited by entering a state of torpor for extended periods of time. All animals need energy to survive, and they get this energy from the food they eat. The birds that most commonly engage in torpor are small-bodied specialized foragers, such as hummingbirds.

What advantage does torpor give the bat?

Saving water allows bats to spend less time obtaining water from the environment, thus reducing their predation risk as well. Another benefit of torpor is the potential for increased longevity (Humphries et al. 2003). Bats as an order are incredibly long-lived relative to other mammals of similar body mass.

What does it mean when an animal is in torpor?

Dormancy or torpor is a widely recognized behavioral and physiological state of both animals and plants that generally indicates inactivity and reduced metabolic rate. It can involve very different physiological states in response to a variety of environmental stimuli, including temperature, water, or food.

What’s the difference between hibernation and torpor in animals?

Torpor Like hibernation, torpor is a survival tactic used by animals to survive the winter months. It also involves a lower body temperature, breathing rate, heart rate, and metabolic rate. But unlike hibernation, torpor appears to be an involuntary state that an animal enters into as the conditions dictate.

What kind of animals go into torpor in winter?

This generally occurs after foraging and is more severe than sleep. Numerous desert reptiles and birds, including rattlesnakes, chuckwallas, desert tortoises, Gila monsters and nightjars and hummingbirds also experience torpid states. Like hibernation, torpor dramatically reduces energy output, making it easier for animals to survive winter.

How much energy does a mammal use during torpor?

During torpor most mammals have a metabolic rate (MR) of 10 to 20% of their normothermic MR. The energy that is saved by employing daily torpor is between 80% and 90% of the energy that is used by normothermic thermoregulation at the same ambient temperatures (Song et al. 1995; Geiser, 2004).