E. Biggins E.M. Lehmer 2005 <p><span>We compared over-winter body temperature (T</span>_b<span>) patterns for more than 6 months in adult (&gt; 1 year) black-tailed (</span><i>Cynomys ludovicianus</i><span>) and Utah (</span><i>C. parvidens</i><span>) prairie dogs from colonies located along gradients of elevation in northern Colorado and southern Utah. In general, black-tailed prairie dogs entered torpor facultatively during winter, whereas Utah prairie dogs hibernated continuously for extended periods. Both black-tailed and Utah prairie dogs displayed significant differences in T</span>_b<span> patterns across elevations, with lower elevation populations entering more shallow and infrequent torpor than prairie dogs at higher elevations. T</span>_b<span> patterns of black-tailed prairie dogs followed 24-h cycles, as most prairie dogs entered into and aroused from torpor between 1100 and 1700 h and bout lengths were clustered around 24-h intervals and multiples thereof. Torpor in Utah prairie dogs did not display the same daily patterns; they entered into and aroused from torpor at all times of the day, and bout lengths were variable. Although black-tailed and Utah prairie dogs are closely related, mechanisms that stimulate and control torpor might differ between them.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1644/1545-1542(2005)086<0015:VITPOF>2.0.CO;2 en Oxford Academic Variation in torpor patterns of free-ranging black-tailed and Utah prairie dogs across gradients of elevation article