The Mysterious Brain of the Fat-Tailed Dwarf Lemur, the World’s Only Hibernating Primate
June 18th, 2012 |
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In the 18th century Carl Linnaeus named them lemurs, after the Latin lemures—spirits of the dead, wandering ghosts. He knew the primates roamed Madagascar’s forests at night, their large eyes brimming with moonlight, their shrill cries crashing through the treetops. One of the smallest lemurs on the island, the fat-tailed dwarf lemur, resembled a phantom [...]
Keep reading »Hibernating black bears suggest new paths for tissue preservation [Video]
February 17th, 2011 |
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Some mammals have an attractive solution for coping with long winters—sleep through them. Black bears (Ursus americanus) for example can hibernate for five to seven months of the year, going without food and water or the light of day. Fat loss and perhaps a little grogginess aside, when they emerge from their dens in the [...]
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The warm, fuzzy side of climate change: Heftier marmots
July 21st, 2010 |
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While polar bears flounder in the face of shrinking ice floes, another furry creature has gotten a boost from climate change. In the past three decades yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) have been fruitful—and multiplied—thanks to longer summers, according to a new study. In the Rocky Mountains, these marmots usually hibernate for seven to eight months [...]
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