User talk:Altermattk

American Black Bear

Topic: Hibernation success

There is a decent amount of physiology under the hibernation section of the article, I plan to add and restructure the physiology within in the hibernation section of the article, using the following information (instead of adding it all in one paragraph). I received feedback on my topic list and was recommended not to be too expansive and be as relevant as possible. My draft sections are below. ->Sources/ Topics

Metabolic Suppression: The metabolic rate during hibernation can drop to a quarter of a bear’s (nonhibernating) basal metabolic rate (BMR).  Many of the physiological changes a bear exhibits during hibernation are retained slightly post-hibernation. Upon exiting hibernation, bears retain a reduced heart rate and basal metabolic rate. The metabolic rate of a hibernating bear will remain at a reduced level for up to 21 days after hibernation^[1]. Reductions in metabolic rate and heart rate do not appear to decrease the bear's ability to heal injuries during hibernation. ^[2]

Bone Mass/structural conservation: The hibernating American black bear does not display the same rate of muscle and bone atrophy relative to other nonhibernatory animals that are subject to long periods of inactivity, due to ailment or old age^{[3] [4]}. A hibernating black bear loses approximately half the muscular strength to that of a well-nourished, inactive human. The bear’s bone mass does not change in geometry or mineral composition during hibernation, this implies that the bear’s conservation of bone mass during hibernation is due to a biological mechanism^[5]. During hibernation bear’s retain all excretory waste, and the retention of this waste (specifically in minerals such as calcium) may play a role in the bear’s resistance to atrophy^[3]. The physiology of American black bears in the wild is closely related to that of bears in captivity. Understanding the  physiology of bears in the wild is vital to the bear's success in captivity ^[6].

Altermattk (talk) 05:36, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

@Altermattk Kevin, thanks for helpful comments on Wyatt's Sea Lion contribution. I didn't see it at first because it is kind of buried in the midsection of his talk page, so I added a note to the bottom of his page pointing him to it. Rico.schultz (talk) 13:15, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Kevin, I like how your contribute get to the point of what you learned from the articles and I think this is exactly what wikipedia is about, getting a concise review of the material without having to read long scientific articles. The one spot where there might be problems is when you say "this waste (specifically in minerals such as calcium) may play a role in the bear’s resistance to atrophy". The "may" seems uncertain and while the study is uncertain in itself, some fellow editors will see this as unsupported. However I think if you change the wording a little bit you should be able to keep it in there. If not, you may want to consider dropping that line. I would recommend trying to keep it though because that is a really cool point! Also I thought you had a section on wound healing in a previous update on your talk page. I just wanted to know what happened to that, because that too seemed really interesting. But good job and good luck with your addition! WyattMillion (talk) 14:11, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Nice work on your draft. I made a small edit in keeping with Wikipedia's style guide - references go after punctuation, not before, and there isn't supposed to be a space between them. Ian (Wiki Ed) (talk) 18:15, 3 May 2016 (UTC)