Apparent death
Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster
Apparent death is an antipredator adaptation. Many animals, such as sharks, beetles, snakes and the Virginia opossum, are capable of appearing to be dead to an observer, while otherwise alive. This could either be a reflex action, as in tonic immobility, or a defense mechanism for avoiding predators, as in thanatosis, which is probably adaptive, or "playing possum", which is more instinctive. Such actions often prove beneficial in the natural environment but, in the modern world of human intervention, can also be fatal. Tonic immobility is a natural state of paralysis that animals enter, in most cases when presented with a threat. Some scientists relate it to mating in certain animals like the shark. Some sharks can be placed in a tonic...
ISBN: 978-6-1308-3532-3
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Книга по требованию
Дата выхода: июль 2011