Critical thermal maximum, in zoology

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

, is that temperature for a given species above which most individuals respond with unorganized locomotion, subjecting the animal to likely death. This concept is particularly relevant in periods of aestivation or quiescence

Quiescence

Quiescence may refer to:*Quiescence search, in Game searching in artificial intelligence, a quiescent state is one in which a game is considered stable and unlikely to change drastically the next few plays...

, in which circumstances an organism experiences limited mobility and lacks the ability to seek a microhabitat of reduced thermal stress.