What physiological adaptation allows wood bison to survive severe seasonal food scarcity?
Answer
They possess a remarkable ability to reduce its metabolic rate.
Survival in their harsh northern environment necessitates specialized internal accommodations for periods of scarcity when ground access to food is limited by deep snow or freezing temperatures. The wood bison possesses a key survival mechanism involving physiological adjustment: the ability to significantly slow down its digestive process and consequently reduce its overall metabolic rate. This slowing allows the animal to stretch the available energy extracted from every consumed meal, critically lowering the total energy demand required to sustain life while waiting for more favorable foraging conditions to return, differentiating them from less adapted herbivores.
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