Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Hitsujigaoka 7, Toyohira, Sapporo, 062-8516, Japan.
Forestry Research Institute, Hokkaido Research Organization, Bibai, 079-0198, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2018 Aug 13;8(1):12047. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-30357-1.
Surviving winter is a challenge for endothermic animals living at high latitudes. In bats, some species migrate to milder climates in winter, but others presumably stay and hibernate in thermally buffered roosts. However, we know little about where, or in what roosts bats hibernate. Ussurian tube-nosed bats (Murina ussuriensis) have occasionally been observed under or near the surface of snow. We collected the details of those accounts and used our own observations to conclude that these bats hibernate in snow. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of hibernation in snow for bats, and second for mammals, following polar bears (Ursus maritimus) denning in snow.
在高纬度地区生活的恒温动物，越冬是一个挑战。有些蝙蝠会在冬季迁徙到气候较温暖的地方，但其他蝙蝠可能会留在温暖的栖息地中进行冬眠。然而，我们对于蝙蝠在何处以及在何种栖息地中冬眠知之甚少。偶然会观察到乌苏里管鼻蝠（Murina ussuriensis）在雪下或雪附近活动。我们收集了这些记录的详细信息，并结合我们自己的观察结果得出结论，这些蝙蝠在雪下冬眠。据我们所知，这是蝙蝠在雪下冬眠的首例证据，也是继北极熊（Ursus maritimus）在雪下筑巢之后，哺乳动物的第二例此类证据。
