Brumation

Brumation is the winter dormancy of ectothermic animals such as reptiles and amphibians, a state distinct enough from mammalian hibernation that biologists coined the separate term for it in the 1920s. It differs from hibernation in its underlying metabolism: a brumating animal draws on glycogen stored in its tissues in addition to or instead of fat, and it still needs periodic water intake through the dormant period, whereas hibernating mammals rely on stored fat and specific physiological changes. Both are strategies for surviving cold seasons, but brumation is a cold-blooded animal's version, tied to its inability to regulate its own body temperature.