Diurnal torpidity in the California pocket mouse

The California pocket mouse, Perognathus californicus, compensates for food supplies which are less than the normal requirement by undergoing a variable period of daily torpor. At an ambient temperature of 15 degrees C, the body temperature of a torpid mouse drops to 16 degrees C, and the metabolism falls to 15 percent of the basal rate. Several other species of pocket mice also show this phenomenon.