“Playing dead,” or “feigning death,” is common in the animal kingdom–but the reasons behind this peculiar form of survival behavior are more nuanced than you might think.compared survival rates of red flour beetles when a predator was introduced into their environment. The study had one important catch: beetles were separated into two categories based on the length of their death-feigning response.
The researchers found that the spider was more likely to eat beetles who faked their own deaths for shorter intervals–suggesting that long duration death-feigning is an evolutionarily advantageous adaptation.describes a situation in which an animal immobilizes itself before being seen by a nearby predator, limiting its chances of detection.
There are also scenarios in which predators feign death to lure in their prey. Sleeper cichlids, native to Lake Malawi in East Africa, are one such example. These sizable predatory fish will lie motionless on their sides amidst the sediment, adopting a mottled coloration. Intrigued scavengers, mistaking the sleeper cichlid for dead prey, venture closer. At just the right moment, the sleeper cichlid springs to life to consume any unsuspecting scavenger that ventures too near.
During death-feigning, the opossum lays inert on its side with its mouth and eyes open, tongue protruding, and feet tightly clenched. Additionally, when experiencing fear, the opossum may emit a green fluid from its anus, characterized by a foul odor, serving as a deterrent to predators. Its heart rate decreases by half, while its breathing becomes extremely slow and shallow, almost imperceptible.This photo, taken in France, depicts a harmless barred grass snake playing dead to avoid predation.
Like the Virginia opossum, Burmeister’s leaf frog will play dead when it finds itself in threatening situations–inverting its body and remaining motionless until the threat has passed. Research shows that death-feigning is common among many Amazonian frog species. OneThis Eastern hognose snake is a natural actor—does it look dead to you?When facing a threat, the eastern hognose snake flattens its neck and raises its head off the ground, resembling a cobra.