AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -When hibernating, an animal’s metabolism slows significantly: its heartbeat slows, it breathes more slowly (some animals even stop breathing for periods of over an hour) and its body temperature drops-in some extreme cases to below the freezing point of water (zero degrees Celsius).

Detailed explanation-2: -The term hibernation is often loosely used to denote any state of sustained torpor, inactivity, or dormancy that an organism might exhibit.

Detailed explanation-3: -The exact triggers that cause an animal to enter into and emerge from hibernation aren’t well known, but combinations of factors such as changes in temperature, daylight, and food availability are thought to play an important role.

Detailed explanation-4: -On the forest floor. Come spring, hibernating animals-like bears, bats, and some squirrels and chipmunks-wake up from their long winter naps. Animals that hibernate sometimes do wake up in the winter months, but not for long periods of time.