Apparent death
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Apparent death, colloquially known as playing dead or playing possum, is an antipredator behavior observed in a wide range of animals in which they take on the appearance of being dead to an observer. This could either be an involuntary reflex action, as in tonic immobility; or an adaptive behavior as in thanatosis, which is used both as a defense mechanism and as a form of aggressive mimicry.
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See also
- Antipredator adaptation
- Chicken hypnotism
- Aggressive mimicry
- Tetrodotoxin
- Trout tickling
- Autohaemorrhaging
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