Aestivation

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The aestivation, also known as a summer time or aestivation, is a form of consecutive dormancy, which occurs mainly in the tropics or areas where the summer is hot and dry. Both some vertebrate species as well as some invertebrates keep summer calm.

Aestivation of reptiles

During the summer rest, some reptile species buried in the ground. Some ( turtles, snakes, lizards ) sometimes use abandoned rodent burrows also as a shelter. Some ( lizards, snakes ) are concealed in protective crevices. During this period, the animals take on any food.

The aestivation is for these animals is the only way to survive the summer heat period unscathed. In its arid habitat ( scrub, semi-desert or desert ) these cold-blooded vertebrates were not in high summer without summer dormancy due to overheating and lack of food and water to survive.

It is interesting that air temperature their metabolism so greatly reduced in the animals despite very high ambient temperatures above 30 ° C to partially above 40 ° C, they do not lose weight during the entire summer rest period. How is that possible from a physiological point of view, is still unclear at present.

Presumably, the initiation of aestivation is hormonally controlled. The factors triggering this are lack of rain, intense sunlight, rising ambient temperatures (generally above 30 ° C) and thus conditional increasing desiccation of forage plants (affects tortoises ) or disappearance of food insects (affects lizards ) or other, unused as food living beings ( relates to snakes).

The duration of the summer rest depends on the weather conditions and can range from 2 weeks to 2 or even 3 months. Probably the falling external temperatures cause the dormant animal for re- recording of his activities. The exact physiological processes in the organism summer dormant reptiles have not yet been explored.

The aestivation is not comparable with the same warm winter sleep some mammals, since during the summer resting body temperature is not reduced.

Examples of reptile species that keep summer calm:

• Egyptian tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni )
• Tunisian tortoise (Testudo graeca nabeulensis )
• Lizards of the family Agamidae ( Laudakia spec.)