Final answer:
The student's question suggests the mice may struggle in cold environments, as they are not well adapted to conserve heat, a challenge for small animals. Adaptations like shivering and brown fat contribute to thermoregulation, and hibernation allows survival during cold periods or food shortage. In hot environments, mice might use estivation to lower their metabolic rate and survive the heat.
Step-by-step explanation:
The mice in question are likely not well adapted to extremely cold environments such as the poles due to their small size, which causes them to lose heat more readily than larger animals. To cope with temperature extremes, mammals, including mice, utilize mechanisms like shivering thermogenesis, where the contraction of muscles during shivering generates heat to maintain body temperature. Another adaptation involves the usage of brown fat, which specializes in heat generation. However, the question implies that these mice may be unable to carry out effective thermogenesis and therefore would struggle in cold environments.
Mice living in temperate climates may face challenges during periods of harsh weather, such as those experienced during the Little Ice Age, but they could survive if they have adaptations like hibernation or if they were not adversely affected by human activities. Hibernation is an example of torpor, where animals lower their metabolic rate and decrease their activity to conserve energy and withstand cold conditions or food scarcity.
In contrast, extreme heat could initiate a different survival strategy. For instance, desert mice might enter torpor during the day to avoid the high temperatures, lowering their metabolic rate in a state akin to hibernation, which is referred to as estivation.