Torpor bout duration during the hibernation season of two sciurid rodents : interrelations with temperature and andmetabolism [Durée des périodes de torpeur pendant la saison hivernale de deux rongeurs sciuridés : corrélations entre la température et le métabolisme].

Résumé

1. Rewarming rate from torpor and body mass were inversely related in. 86 mammals ranging in body mass between 2 and 8500 g. 2. Most of the mammalian taxa investigated showed a similar change of rewarming rate with body mass. Only the insectivores showed a more pronounced increase in rewarming with a decrease in body mass than did the other taxa. The rates of rewarming of marsupials were similar to those of placentals. 3. At low air temperature (ra), the rate of rewarming of marsupials was not related to body mass, although a strong relationship between the two variables was observed in the same species at high Ta. 4. The slopes relating rewarming rates and body mass of the mammalian groups and taxa analysed here were similar to those obtained earlier for mass-specific basal metabolic rate (BMR) and body mass in mammals, suggesting that the rate of rewarming and BMR are physiologically linked.