Aestivation also aestivate. Although relatively uncommon, a small number of mammals aestivate. Animal physiologist Kathrin Dausmann of Philipps University of Marburg, Germany, and coworkers presented evidence in a 2004 edition of "Nature" that the Malagasy fat-tailed dwarf lemur hibernates or aestivates in a small tree hole for seven months of the year. According to the Oakland Zoo in California, East African hedgehogs are thought to aestivate during the dry season. Aestivation Aestivation or æstivation (from , summer, but also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, characterized by inactivity and a lowered metabolic rate,
Seed dormancy from transient herbivores; it also allows some seeds to germinate when competition from other plants for light and water might be less intense. Another form of delayed seed germination is seed quiescence, which is different from true seed dormancy and occurs when a seed fails to germinate because the external environmental conditions are too dry or warm or cold for germination. Many species of plants have seeds that delay germination for many months or years, and some seeds can remain in the soil seed bank for more than 50 years before germination. Some seeds have a very long viability period,