Purpose
Mammals may undergo diapause to avoid the risk to their own lives during unfavourable and/or environmental conditions. Mammals use embryonic diapause to time the birth of their offspring for favorable metabolic and/or environmental conditions. Reproduction has a large energy cost and it is beneficial to have ideal conditions (e.g. available food, mild weather, previous offspring weaned) to ensure the offspring survives before giving birth.
Read more about this topic: Embryonic Diapause
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