Will crocodiles die if they hibernate and freeze to death?

Speaking of crocodiles, everyone is familiar with them. Crocodiles, as ancient creatures of the same age as dinosaurs, have a long survival time and strong adaptability to the environment. This tenacious creature is widely distributed in all continents except Antarctica.

However, because crocodiles are warm animals, their body temperature is mainly maintained by external temperature. Therefore, in winter, crocodiles living in low temperature areas can no longer keep their body temperature and lose the ability to continue their activities. At this time, the crocodile will begin its hibernation journey, and Bloom will not be able to resume activities and reproduction until the next spring.

Crocodiles hunt frequently before sleeping and hibernating, and store enough fat, which will be stored in the tail and viscera of crocodiles. In the next three months, it will stay still and spend the winter on this fat. However, cold is not the only reason why crocodiles sleep. In the dry season, crocodiles sometimes sleep for a summer because of drought and lack of rain. At this time, crocodiles will dig a cave, climb into it and sleep covered with mud until the dry season is over. Is it better than the "migrant workers" who go to work every day?

Anyway, when crocodiles hibernate, they also dig a hole and hide in it to hibernate. Take the Chinese alligator as an example. During hibernation, Chinese alligators dig a cave by the water. Such caves are generally below the water level, so that external water can seep in and mix with the soil in the caves. This mixed mud is not easy to freeze, and the temperature in the deepest part of the cave is higher than that outside.

If it is a farmed Chinese alligator, humans will also put mats on the hole to ensure the temperature. However, even in hibernation, crocodiles will roar and even fight back if threatened.

Another hibernation mode-frozen crocodile cave hibernation is very common, but it is not the only way for crocodiles to hibernate. Crocodiles hibernate in different ways in low temperature areas.

If you have a chance to see the unusual hibernation mode of crocodiles, you will be surprised, because the cold-blooded killer, which is usually fatal at a glance, can't even open his mouth now, which is really a different era.

When the temperature drops too fast, crocodiles have no time to dig holes or there is no suitable area nearby, so crocodiles may choose to hibernate directly in the water. However, crocodiles can't stay underwater for a long time because they breathe through their lungs, so they must stick their noses out of the water before hibernating.

As for why only the nose is on the water, this is because crocodiles are basically upright and their limbs are straight forward when they are completely relaxed. When hibernating, the crocodile's body temperature gradually drops, and its body is stiff and unable to move. Nature can only maintain this physical state.

In addition to being unable to move, the metabolism level of frozen crocodiles will drop rapidly, and all systems in the body, including digestive system and circulatory system, will almost stop working, and even the immune system of crocodiles will go to sleep. The genes that control these systems will also be adjusted accordingly. These changes can reduce calorie consumption and help crocodiles spend the cold winter.

Will a frozen crocodile die? Don't worry, this crocodile, which has been embedded in the ice, will be alive and kicking and under siege next year. This is because water in animals usually exists not only in liquid form, but also in solution form, and so does human beings. The freezing point of the solution is lower than that of water, and it can only freeze below 0 degrees Celsius. Although crocodiles are usually frozen on the water surface, the water below the water surface cannot reach the freezing point under the protection of ice, and it will not freeze the solution in animals. Therefore, although it looks "scary", the cells in the crocodile body will not be greatly affected, and the functions of tissues and organs can also function normally. When the ice melts, the crocodile will gradually regain consciousness and the main system of the body will resume operation. However, there are exceptions. Some crocodiles with poor constitution and insufficient fat reserves may never wait for the next spring after a long period of freezing.

In fact, not only crocodiles, but also some animals living in cold areas have the ability to freeze to death. For example, wood frogs distributed in high mountains. In extremely cold weather, wood frogs will freeze 70% of tissues and organs, and their hearts will stop beating and blood circulation will stop. But when the temperature rises, the wood frog will thaw again and come back to life.

These seemingly magical wintering skills have actually evolved step by step to adapt to the living environment. It is precisely because of this that crocodiles have multiplied to this day, and the overlord of the earth (dinosaur) at the same time has long since died.