It’s difficult to record in the wild, and there are ethical concerns about creating lab experiments in which predators attack prey, she says. Andrews in the United Kingdom, says by email.

In general, scientists don’t know enough about this intriguing behavior, Rosalind Humphreys, a postgraduate student at the University of St. )ĭozens of invertebrates practice tonic immobility, making them among the most common-or at least most studied-species to do so.įor instance, when approached by a predator, pygmy grasshoppers in Japan will play dead by sticking out their legs in several directions, making it nearly impossible for frogs to swallow them.

( Watch a video of a mongoose playing dead. Some sharks even pretend to go belly up: If flipped on their backs and momentarily restrained, lemon sharks will go limp, displaying labored breathing and occasional tremors. Avian imposters include Japanese quail, domestic chickens, and wild ducks. Guinea pigs and many species of rabbits pretend to have perished, as do a number of snakes, such as the Texas indigo snake. Perhaps the most famous death faker is North America’s Virginia opossum, which opens its mouth, sticks out its tongue, empties its bowels, and excretes foul-smelling fluids to convince a predator it’s past the expiration date. Scientifically known as thanatosis, or tonic immobility, playing dead occurs across the animal kingdom, from birds to mammals to fish. Of all the ways animals have evolved to evade predators, feigning death might be one of the most creative-and risky.

Word for freezing to death