Although, if it gets too hot they will estivate, or enter a torpor-like state, and bury themselves to stay out of the unforgiving heat until some cooler weather or rainfall returns.
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Uniquely, it is also the only poison dart frog to estivate during dry spells.
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Some desert amphibians estivate underground for over a year at a time. Unlike hibernation, which leads to a state of torpor, estivation induces lethargy, and can go unnoticed in some animals if their body temperature is not measured.
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They can be found in most wetlands in the coastal plain of the southeastern U.S., even ones which periodically dry out, as they are able to estivate in the moist mud below drained marshland and other ephemeral wetlands. Amphiumas are rarely encountered on land.
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Some snails hibernate during the winter (typically October through April in the Northern Hemisphere). They may also estivate in the summer in drought conditions. To stay moist during hibernation, a snail seals its shell opening with a dry layer of mucus called an epiphragm.
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The wood turtle reaches a peak body temperature of after basking. During times of extreme heat, it has been known to estivate. Several reports mention individuals resting under vegetation, fallen debris and in shallow puddles. During the summer, the wood turtle is considered a largely terrestrial animal.
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These turtles are diurnal and become active in the early morning. During extremely cold days, they each may spend time under water, while the bog has been known to also seek dense underbrush or mud in which to bury itself. Excessively hot days sometimes causes these turtles to estivate.
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The Washington ground squirrel lives in sagebrush or grassland habitats in the Columbia River Basin of Washington and Oregon. Washington ground squirrels hibernate / estivate 7–8 months each year. Adults breed shortly after emergence from hibernation in January or February and juveniles emerge from the natal burrow in March. Juveniles disperse away from the natal burrow and settle into new areas.
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All desert rodents except ground squirrels and chipmunks are nocturnal. Amphibians are usually nocturnal as well, while many other xerocoles are diurnal, but reduce activity at midday and increase in the mornings and evenings. Some xerocoles change their activity patterns depending on the season: nocturnal ants, for example, become diurnal during colder periods. Many xerocoles, especially rodents, estivate in the summer, becoming more dormant.
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The female rock squirrel has two litters a year, with three to nine young in each litter. The first litter is typically born between April and June, while the second is born between August and September. They are active in the early morning and late afternoons when it is warm – when very hot, they may estivate. They are social, and live in colonies with several females and one dominant male who fights other mature males to protect the group.
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Adult marbled lungfish live in swamps, riverbeds, floodplains, and river deltas throughout its range. The juvenile members of the species often live in between the roots of papyrus plants. Despite being aquatic, adult marbled lungfish can live in riverbeds and other areas that have no rain for portions of the year due to their ability to estivate or burrow in the ground to form an air bubble and breathe out of a hole in the cocoon thus formed.
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All lungfish of the order can and often do estivate (with the exception of the Spotted African lungfish, which can but rarely does so). As well, the order is composed entirely of obligatory air-breathers; only the Australian lungfish has functioning gills in the adult members of the species whilst members of this order only have gills in the larvae. The lungfish also all have generally small scales and two lungs as opposed to the Australian lungfish's single lung.
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Such behavior is indicative of the bog turtle's ability to survive without oxygen. On warmer days, the bog turtle's activities include scavenging, mating (during early spring), and basking in sunlight, the last of which it spends a great deal of the day doing. However, the bog turtle usually takes shelter from the sun during the hottest part of the day. Occasionally, during times of extreme heat, the turtle will either estivate, or become subterranean, sometimes occupying networks of tunnels filled with water.
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Water is absent from its habitat for a significant part of the year and it moves out into the surrounding woodland which is predominantly oak and pistachio, during which time this species is known to estivate. Currently the Lusristan newt if found in the Zagros Mountains in Iran, but in recent studies it has been concluded that small portions of southern Iran that include Kermanshah, Ilam, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, and Kohgiluye-Boyerahmad are habitats that these species will be distributing themselves in the future due do climate change affecting their current habitats.
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Some burrows are occupied communally but each individual squirrel has its own entrance. Although they readily become tame in areas used by humans, and quickly learn to take food left or offered by picnickers, they spend most of their time within 25 m (80 ft) of their burrow, and rarely go further than from it. In the colder parts of their range, California ground squirrels hibernate for several months, but in areas where winters have no snow, most squirrels are active year-round. In those parts where the summers are hot they may also estivate for periods of a few days.
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They have also been documented eating gums from Commiphora species and Colvillea racemosa, bud exudates from Zanthoxylum tsihanimposa, sap from baobab trees (Adansonia species), nectar from Crateva greveana flowers, the sugary excretions from bugs (family Machaerotidae) which feed on trees of the genus Rhopalocarpus, and very small amounts of fruit. Although fork-marked lemurs have widely varied forest habitat, gum and other plant exudates of other species are likely to dominate their diet. They are not known to estivate or accumulate fat reserves for the dry season. The Madagascar harrier-hawk may prey on fork-marked lemurs by extracting them from their sleeping holes.
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