Huddling is effective in decreasing metabolic rate permitting energy saving. However, this decrease varies among different species depending on physical, physiological and behavioral characteristics of the huddled individuals. ...

In small mammals, huddling appears as an efficient response to low temperature with important consequences in energy saving, which in turn affect individual fitness. It has been proposed that this behavior is a self-organized ...

Mammals exposed to low temperatures increase their metabolic rate to maintain constant body temperature and thus compensate for heat loss. This high and costly energetic demand can be mitigated through thermoregulatory ...

One of the most representative cases in which the relation individual-environment is evident is the heat exchange between animals and their physical environment. Based on the physical laws regulating heat exchange and on ...

Huddling in small mammals appears as an efficient response to low ambient temperatures with important consequences in thermoregulatory energy savings. These energy savings have been ascribed to a decrease in the exposed ...