estivation
ESS-tih-VAY-shun
A state of dormancy entered during hot, dry periods — the summer equivalent of hibernation. Desert toads, lungfish, snails, and some reptiles estivate by burrowing underground, slowing their metabolism, and waiting for rain. The desert is not empty in summer; it is full of sleeping animals.
Etymology
From Latin aestivare, to spend the summer, from aestas, summer. The word mirrors hibernation (from hibernare, to spend the winter) — one for the heat, one for the cold.
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