An hourglass mechanism controls torpor bout length in hibernating garden dormice

Hibernating mammals drastically lower their rate of oxygen consumption and body temperature (T(b)) for several weeks, but regularly rewarm and stay euthermic for brief periods (<30 h). It has been hypothesized that these periodic arousals are driven by the development of a metabolic imbalance during torpor; that is, the accumulation or the depletion of metabolites or the accrual of cellular damage that can be eliminated only in the euthermic state. We obtained oxygen consumption (as a proxy of metabolic rate) and T(b) at 7 min intervals over entire torpor–arousal cycles in the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus). Torpor bout duration was highly dependent on mean oxygen consumption during the torpor bout. Oxygen consumption during torpor, in turn, was elevated by T(b), which fluctuated only slightly in dormice kept at ∼3–8°C. This corresponds to a well-known effect of higher T(b) on shortening torpor bout lengths in hibernators. Arousal duration was independent from prior torpor length, but arousal mean oxygen consumption increased with prior torpor T(b). These results, particularly the effect of torpor oxygen consumption on torpor bout length, point to an hourglass mechanism of torpor control, i.e. the correction of a metabolic imbalance during arousal. This conclusion is in line with previous comparative studies providing evidence for significant interspecific inverse relationships between the duration of torpor bouts and metabolism in torpor. Thus, a simple hourglass mechanism is sufficient to explain torpor/arousal cycles, without the need to involve non-temperature-compensated circadian rhythms.