05-08-2024, 06:12 PM
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/snak...-predators
To avoid becoming a meal, some animals simply fake it until they make it. And fake deaths with several unappealing elements may make the whole display more efficient, a study finds.
Dice snakes that bleed from the mouth and cover themselves in musk and feces spend less time pretending to be dead than those that don’t, researchers report May 8 in Biology Letters. These defenses, the scientists suggest, could be working in synergy: heightening the overall impact of the display while helping the snake escape a predator more quickly.
Death-feigning is a common defensive tactic across the animal kingdom (SN: 11/1/23). It often involves prey lying still while exposing vulnerable body parts, making it a high-risk but potentially high-reward maneuver. Many predators won’t touch apparently dead things, perhaps because of parasites, or maybe because the lack of movement doesn’t elicit their predatory response.
Well, this can't be very pleasant for these snakes... but I assume they'll be desensitised to it .
And besides, if it keeps them alive, then it's doing its job !
To avoid becoming a meal, some animals simply fake it until they make it. And fake deaths with several unappealing elements may make the whole display more efficient, a study finds.
Dice snakes that bleed from the mouth and cover themselves in musk and feces spend less time pretending to be dead than those that don’t, researchers report May 8 in Biology Letters. These defenses, the scientists suggest, could be working in synergy: heightening the overall impact of the display while helping the snake escape a predator more quickly.
Death-feigning is a common defensive tactic across the animal kingdom (SN: 11/1/23). It often involves prey lying still while exposing vulnerable body parts, making it a high-risk but potentially high-reward maneuver. Many predators won’t touch apparently dead things, perhaps because of parasites, or maybe because the lack of movement doesn’t elicit their predatory response.
Well, this can't be very pleasant for these snakes... but I assume they'll be desensitised to it .
And besides, if it keeps them alive, then it's doing its job !
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