Abstract
THE phenomena of hibernation and æstivation have both been recorded in the genus Citellus, and although it is not known whether the two phenomena are physiologically the same1, nevertheless hibernation seems to be an adaptation to an unfavourable cold seasonal environment, and æstivation an adaptation to an arid hot environment with seasonal drought. It is of interest, therefore, to find that the rock ground squirrel, Citellus variegatus, the habitat of which is the arid south-west from Utah to southern Mexico2, is capable of hibernating but does not appear to sestivate. Hibernation as used here refers to a mammal with a homothermic temperature of approximately 37° C, but which is able to lower this temperature to the environment and raise it again against the gradient.
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PENGELLEY, E. Responses of a New Hibernator (Citellus variegatus) to Controlled Environments. Nature 203, 892 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/203892a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/203892a0
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