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Hibernation isn't sleep it's survival at the edge of death. Watch bears drop their heart rate to 8 beats per minute, Arctic ground squirrels freeze below 0°C and somehow live, wood frogs turn into ice blocks for 8 months, and tardigrades survive being shot out of guns. Plus, meet the rotifer that spent 24,000 years frozen in Siberian permafrost and came back to life. Nature's deepest sleeps are wilder than you think.
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ABOUT LINDSAY NIKOLE
Join zoologist Lindsay Nikole for vivid stories about evolution, animal behavior, and the wonderfully weird life around (and before) us. Each video dives into creatures you’ve never met and facts you’ll never forget, blending science with humor, visuals, and memorable explanations. From viral mystery IDs and prehistoric deep dives to myth-busting and conservation context, this channel makes complex biology easy and exciting to understand.
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Chapters:
00:00 The Wild World of Hibernation
01:36 Ectotherms vs Endotherms The Temperature Split
03:11 Heterothermy Nature’s Body Temperature Switch
04:34 Bears Sleeping Through Winter Like Pros
08:20 Arctic Ground Squirrels Surviving Below Freezing
10:12 Fat-Tailed Dwarf Lemurs Tails at 40% of Body Weight
11:06 Common Poorwill The Only Hibernating Bird
12:55 Wood Frogs Frozen Solid for 8 Months
15:13 African Lungfish Four Years in a Mucous Cocoon
16:16 Cryptobiosis A State of No Visible Life
17:12 Tardigrades Surviving the Vacuum of Space
19:34 Rotifers 24,000 Years Frozen in Permafrost
20:37 Nematodes The Contested 46,000-Year Record
The Deepest Sleeps in Nature (That We Know Of) | Lindsay Nikole
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrc2iv2-G1FZ3VscM3zu2jg
📝 Transcript
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Top Comments
@LindsayNikole
Thank you Helix Sleep for sponsoring! Visit https://helixsleep.com/lindsaynikole to take advantage of their Flash Sale Exclusive Partner Offer and get 27% Off Sitewide
20 likes
@Ladieboogie527
Lindsay, please never stop swinging your arm like that when you say “get the general information out of the way” lol it’s so good it reminds me of bob ross slapping his brush and saying “slap the devil out of it” everytime he cleaned his brush
596 likes
@SeanRoss1981
One of the most authentic people online. Always make time for these.
1067 likes
@ShakerShook
THE DEEPEEST EEPIES?!
765 likes
@heatherwallaert5165
"Can I help you" "MEOW" is a conversation also always heard inside my home
137 likes
@jvonstrange
It's still cold as fuck in January too, you're still good on timing!!
625 likes
@dicegerry5127
The way you talk to your cat made me so irrationally happy
376 likes
@InvertsandOi
When I watch other people's content I throw in "that we know of!" where it belongs. Sometimes in my head, sometimes out loud. I love it.
220 likes
@PaleoAnalysis
As a side note: Black bear actually exhibit a great deal of variation in the intensity that they hibernate basically depending on their regional environment. For example here in Florida, Black bears don't hibernate nearly as much. Because even though it does get cold here, there isn't really a huge change in the available food throughout the year.
195 likes
@meikusje
Them: if you're cold, they're cold!
Arctic squirrel: 😴
71 likes
@ikeekieeki
"dreaming lemurs in the depths of hibernation" is poetry
109 likes
@ambulocetusnatans
I occasionally get called out to do some animal relocation, and for the past decade or so, climate change has been disturbing the winter weather here. We will have 50 or 60 degree days right in the middle of a deep freeze.
This wakes up the bats, and if the bats are in your attic, they can't go outside, so they come down into your living room looking for something to eat. They have no choice: it's either look for food or try to go back to sleep and hope you don't starve before spring. If they stay awake they won't make it.
74 likes
@pessimistic_optimist8322
A note for tardigrades I see a lot of people seem to have misconception about. All of those extreme conditions they can survive, are specific species of tardigrades... no individual tardigrade species can survive all or even most of those conditions.
61 likes
@bermudarhombus
I just wanna say I love the meme at 4:56 it's the kind of thing that I'm sure halfway through making the meme you were thinking "why am I spending so much time on something that will be on screen for literally 2 seconds" and I hope you know it was worth it
26 likes
@ggrimalkin
2:30 no, they smell very mildly of skunk. I live where these are very common. They thaw the frozen ground around them in the early spring and sustain early pollinators