These Bats Make Tiny Snow Caves

The video explores how snow, despite being cold, serves as an excellent insulator, a fact utilized by the Usurian tube-nosed bat in Asia. These bats create snow dens to hibernate during winter, benefiting from the insulation properties of snow, which traps air and maintains a stable temperature. This adaptation helps them conserve energy and stay hydrated. The video also highlights the rarity of such behavior in mammals, with polar bears being the only other known species to use snow dens. The discovery of this behavior in bats was serendipitous, emphasizing the value of curiosity-driven research.

How do researchers believe the Usurian tube nosed bats manage their energy during hibernation?

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What other nonhuman mammal is mentioned in the text that also builds dens in the snow, and how does it compare in size to the Usurian tube nosed bat?

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