Fasted Mice Kept at Low Temperature Easily and Reversibly Go Into Torpor
Endotherms have the ability to enter torpor, a hypometabolic state known as survival mode. The animal can reduce its body temperature by 10°C to 30°C and suppress its metabolic rate by 70–90% while in this state. Torpor is a survival state used by many warm-blooded animals, or endotherms, to store energy in times when food supplies are limited or when the temperature makes it difficult to maintain a normal state.