Video Transcript
Estivation is the term used for
animals that go into short or prolonged dormant states when temperatures are too
high or conditions are too dry. Which of the following animals
undergoes estivation during summers? The answer options include images
of four different animals: (A) a lesser Egyptian jerboa, (B) a lion, (C) a hare, or
(D) a bear.
The question tells us that
estivation refers to animals that enter a state of dormancy when temperatures become
too high or the environment becomes too dry. A good example of organisms that
experience such conditions due to the desert areas they often inhabit are the lesser
Egyptian jerboas. During especially hot or dry
periods like summers, the jerboa enters a dormant state in a burrow it digs deep in
the ground where the temperatures remain cooler. And it estivates there until the
conditions become more tolerable. This suggests that the correct
answer is option (A), but let’s quickly double-check the other options.
Lions and hares do not enter
periods of dormancy at all, so options (B) and (C) are definitely incorrect. Bears do enter states of dormancy,
but this is not in response to hot or dry conditions. Instead, bears hibernate, which is
in response to cold conditions. Most bears spend the coldest months
of the year dormant and relying on stores of fat in their body to allow them to
survive until conditions improve. Therefore, option (D) is not
correct.
So we can confirm that the animal
shown that undergoes estivation during hot, dry summers is (A), the lesser Egyptian
jerboa.
