The ground squirrel hibernates in a unique way, burning almost no energy while it is out for the winter, with no loss of muscle mass, scientists discovered.
To better understand how this unusual hibernation process works, Université de Montréal biologist, Matthew Regan, injected the blood of ground squirrels with tracking agents, allowing them to examine any changes over the winter.
His findings confirmed a 30-year-old theory, known as ‘urea nitrogen salvage’, that says urea, usually expelled as urine, is recycled
