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The Other Functions of Torpor

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Living in a Seasonal World

Abstract

Although energy conservation by cold-climate adult endotherms in winter is often viewed as the main function of torpor, recent evidence suggests that this may not always be the case. We examined whether other functions of torpor may be equally or even more important in some instances. Torpor enhances fat storage during migration, apparently permits prolonged female sperm storage in bats, allows reproduction with limited or fluctuating food supply, and delays parturition until more favorable periods. Torpor appears to increase the efficiency of energy and nutrient use during development. Further, torpor reduces water requirements, appears to permit persistence during droughts, reduces the load of some parasites, permits co-existence of competing species, and also reduces the risk of predation and mammalian extinctions. Thus, the functions of torpor are complex and some of these appear to be not just proximate.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dick Hill, Chris Turbill and the students from RMB’s laboratory for constructive comments. The work was supported by the ARC (FG) and NSERC (RMB).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia

    Fritz Geiser

  2. Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada

    R. Mark Brigham

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  1. Fritz Geiser
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Correspondence to Fritz Geiser .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Forschungsinst. Wildtierkunde und, Ökologie, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Veterinärplatz 1, Wien, 1210, Austria

    Thomas Ruf

  2. Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, Savoyenstr. 1, Vienna, 1160, Austria

    Claudia Bieber

  3. Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, Savoyenstr. 1, Vienna, 1160, Austria

    Walter Arnold

  4. , Dept. of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, Vienna, 1160, Austria

    Eva Millesi

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Geiser, F., Brigham, R.M. (2012). The Other Functions of Torpor. In: Ruf, T., Bieber, C., Arnold, W., Millesi, E. (eds) Living in a Seasonal World. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28678-0_10

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