Aestivation 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, that is entered in response to high temperatures and arid conditions. It takes place during times of heat and dryness, the hot dry season, which are often the summer months. Invertebrate and vertebrate animals are known to enter this state to avoid damage from high temperatures and the risk of desiccation. Both terrestrial and aquatic animals undergo aestivation. The fossil record suggests that aestivation may have evolved several hundred
Hibernation ambient temperature and access to food. Obligate hibernators include many species of ground squirrels, other rodents, mouse lemurs, European hedgehogs and other insectivores, monotremes, marsupials, and even butterflies such as the small tortoiseshell. These species undergo what has been traditionally called "hibernation": a physiological state wherein the body temperature drops to near ambient (environmental) temperature, and heart and respiration rates slow drastically. The typical winter season for obligate hibernators is characterized by periods of torpor interrupted by periodic, euthermic arousals, during which body temperatures and heart rates are restored to more typical levels. The cause and purpose of these arousals