Aestivation

Aestivation involves burrowing into mud or leaf litter, dramatically reducing metabolic rate and water loss. African and South American lungfish encase themselves in mucus cocoons in dried mud and can survive for years. The marbled lungfish holds the record for the longest documented aestivation — experimentally maintained for over four years. As climate change intensifies droughts, aestivation capacity may become increasingly important for amphibian and reptile persistence.