Yellow Ground Squirrel Telemetry Data for Hibernation Entry Behavior

Telemetry data collected from wild yellow ground squirrels (Spermophilus fulvus) reveals behavioral patterns preceding hibernation. Nina Vasilieva authored this dataset, which includes activity and skin temperature measurements from the days immediately before and after hibernation immergence. The dataset was last updated on April 27, 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze changes in daily activity patterns based on telemetry data.
• Model the relationship between skin temperature and behavioral state before hibernation.
• Identify stereotyped behavioral syndromes preceding hibernation onset.
• Study the trade-off between immediate energy costs and future survival benefits in hibernators.
• Develop non-invasive monitoring frameworks for hibernation in burrowing mammals.

Strengths

• Data reveals a previously undescribed behavioral signature of hibernation onset.
• Behavior during hibernation entry was highly consistent across individual squirrels.
• Weather conditions, date, and individual age had little effect on immergence-day behavior.
• Dataset is openly available under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset is small (1.1 MB), which may limit the scope of analysis.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Telemetry measurements of activity and skin temperature in wild yellow ground squirrels.

Time Range

Days immediately before and after hibernation immergence.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-27 09:06:24; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Desert habitat of yellow ground squirrels (Spermophilus fulvus).