Stay on the low to get through hard times

SUSPENDED animation is the temporary cessation of most vital functions of a living thing without leading to death, as in a hibernating animal or dormant seed. Some mammals hibernate over winter to survive and certain seeds can delay germination for more than 50 years.

One of the most interesting aquatic animals must surely be the African lungfish that can sleep out of water for three to five years without any sustenance, only to wake up after heavy rain when water floods their burrows. This has allowed them to survive for 400 million years.