Hibernating squirrels have a secret that could help keep astronauts on future deep space missions hale and hearty, according to a recent study published in Science. While fasting through the winter, ...

The thirteen-lined squirrel, aptly named for the thirteen stripes on its back, spends much of its time above ground dodging angry humans. But for several months of the year, it gets a reprieve: Like ...

It’s common knowledge that animals who hibernate such as bears and ground squirrels, reduce their energy demands and use their fat reserves to meet their energy needs until spring. Yet, it has been a ...

When bears and ground squirrels hibernate in winter, they stop eating, lasting until spring simply on the fat reserves they've stored up in their bodies. Usually, this sort of prolonged fasting and ...

Gut microbes give some squirrels a helping hand to stay strong during hibernation. The microorganisms appear to help the squirrels recycle nutrients to keep the rodents’ muscles taut, researchers ...

Ground squirrels spend the end of summer gorging on food, preparing for hibernation. They need to store a lot of energy as fat, which becomes their primary fuel source underground in their hibernation ...

The unique way that ground squirrels burn almost no energy when they hibernate -- with no loss of muscle mass -- has implications for space travel, biologists find. When bears and ground squirrels ...