Similarly, in response to an accidental flooding event in the lab, researchers observed a highly unusual period of multiday torpor in a golden spiny mouse, its temperature reaching a low of about 75°F (24°C).
This more flexible use of torpor can help heterotherms wait out a catastrophe, Geiser says. In contrast, homeothermic species can’t just dial back their need for food and water and may not be able to outlast challenging conditions.
“Maybe there’s no food, maybe no water, it may be really warm,” says ecophysiologist Julia Nowack of Liverpool John Moores University in England, a coauthor on the sugar glider study. Torpor, especially in the tropics, has “lots
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