ReviewJournal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology2017
More functions of torpor and their roles in a changing world.
Review in Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 120 citations in OpenAlex.
- Estimating the Impacts of Future Extreme Heat on Dryland Threatened Mammals: An Australian Case Study.Global change biology · 2026Pooled it
- Torpor-assisted migration: Regular use of shallow torpor reduces rest-phase energy expenditure for songbirds during migration.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) growth and longevity estimated from adult capture-mark-recapture data.Journal of fish biology · 2026Article
- Body Size Decline in an Endangered Bat Is Associated With Climate Change at a Continental Scale but Varies by Phenophase and Region.Global change biology · 2026Article
- Daily torpor in summer- and winter-acclimated hamsters: are thermal biology and balancing energy budgets under a different seasonal physiological control?Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2026Article
- Mismatched and underrepresented: bat-virus diversity and phylogeographic bias in experimental infection studies.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Investigating the Dynamic Variation of Skin Microbiota and Metabolites in Bats During Hibernation.Biology · 2025Article
- A mechanistic model of endotherm hibernation applied to the endangered mountain pygmy possum under climate change.Ecology · 2025Article
- Torpor expression and patterns in 3 sympatric rodents from Inner Mongolia.Current zoology · 2025Article
- Intermediate Habitat Fragmentation Buffers Droughts: How Individual Energy Dynamics Mediate Mammal Community Response to Stressors.Global change biology · 2025Article
- Intraspecific variation in metabolic responses to diverse environmental conditions in the Malagasy bat Triaenops menamena.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2025Article
- In-situ responses of temperate-zone bats to climate change.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
- Microbial urea-nitrogen recycling in arctic ground squirrels: the effect of ambient temperature of hibernation.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2024Article
- Predation can shape the cascade interplay between heterothermy, exploration and maintenance metabolism under high food availability.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Contrasting Torpor Use by Reproductive Male Common Noctule Bats in the Laboratory and in the Field.Integrative and comparative biology · 2023Article
- Rare and Opportunistic Use of Torpor in Mammals-An Echo from the Past?Integrative and comparative biology · 2023Article
- Do changes in body mass alter white blood cell profiles and immune function in Australian cane toads (Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Food availability positively affects the survival and somatic maintenance of hibernating garden dormice (Eliomys quercinus).Frontiers in zoology · 2023Article
- Evidence for heterothermic endothermy and reptile-like eggshell mineralization inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Pronounced differences in heart rate and metabolism distinguish daily torpor and short-term hibernation in two bat species.Scientific reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Increased winter survival by reducing energy expenditure in adult animals is often viewed as the primary function of torpor. However, torpor has many other functions that ultimately increase the survival of heterothermic mammals and birds. In this review, we summarize new findings revealing that animals use torpor to cope with the conditions during and after natural disasters, including fires, storms, and heat waves. Furthermore, we suggest that torpor, which also prolongs longevity and was likely crucial for survival of mammals during the time of the dinosaur extinctions, will be advantageous in a changing world. Climate change is assumed to lead to an increase in the occurrence and intensity of climatic disasters, such as those listed above and also abnormal floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures. The opportunistic use of torpor, found in many heterothermic species, will likely enhance survival of these challenges, because these species can reduce energy and foraging requirements. However, many strictly seasonal hibernators will likely face the negative consequences of the predicted increase in temperature, such as range contraction. Overall, available data suggest that opportunistic heterotherms with their flexible energy requirements have an adaptive advantage over homeotherms in response to unpredictable conditions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.