From land to ocean: One month for southern elephant seal pups to acquire aquatic skills prior to their first departure to sea.

Weaned southern elephant seals (SES) quickly transition from terrestrial to aquatic life after a 5- to 6-week post-weaning period. At sea, juveniles and adult elephant seals present extreme, continuous diving behaviour. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of the post-weaning period for weanlings to prepare for the physiological challenges of their future sea life.

Breaking the fast: first report of dives and ingestion events in molting southern elephant seals.

Southern elephant seals (SES) experience a 'catastrophic molt', a costly event characterized by the renewal of both hair and epidermis that requires high peripheral vascular circulation. Molting animals are therefore constrained by high metabolic heat loss and are thought to fast and remain on land. To examine the ability of individuals to balance the energetic constraints of molting on land we investigate the stomach temperature and movement patterns of molting female SES.

Sticking Together: Energetic Consequences of Huddling Behavior in Hibernating Juvenile Garden Dormice.

AbstractHibernation, or multiday torpor, allows individuals to save energy via substantial reductions of metabolism and body temperature but is regularly interrupted by euthermic phases called arousals. Social thermoregulation, or "huddling," can act in synergy with torpor in reducing individuals' energy and heat losses. In the wild, the garden dormouse () combines both strategies, which are crucial for winter survival of juveniles with limited prehibernation body fat reserves.