In this issue, ‘Going to Ground’:
· Torpor and hibernation: two energy-saving strategies that help mammals survive
· Australian trapdoor spiders are remarkably long-lived master architects
· A miniaturised microbiome is necessary for deep-space refuges away from Earth, but is it even possible?
· How echidnas operate as ecosystem engineers
· Venom is a functional trait that is far more complex than it seems
· Will giving wild places the same rights as humans make politicians listen?