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The cause of this posture—often called a "death pose"—has been a matter of scientific debate. Traditional explanations ranged from strong ligaments in the animal's neck desiccating and contracting to draw the body into the pose, [1] to water currents arranging the remains in the position. [2]
[1] [5] [2] Apparent death is separate from the freezing behavior seen in some animals. [1] [2] Apparent death is a form of animal deception considered to be an anti-predator strategy, but it can also be used as a form of aggressive mimicry. When induced by humans, the state is sometimes colloquially known as animal hypnosis.
As a result, the animals absorb liquid, begin to swell, and separate from the substrate so that they float freely in the water. In the protected interior space, the ventral cells form an ovum surrounded by a special envelope, the fertilisation membrane; the ovum is supplied with nutrients by the surrounding syncytium, allowing energy-rich yolk ...
Some scientists who study animals’ relation to death might disagree with this conclusion. Understanding death, they might argue, implies comprehending the absolute finality of it, its ...
Moving in water by ciliary motion, eating food by engulfment, reproducing by fission or budding, placozoans are described as "the simplest animals on Earth." [ 6 ] Structural and molecular analyses have supported them as among the most basal animals, [ 7 ] [ 8 ] thus, constituting a primitive metazoan phylum.
The word "protozoa" (singular protozoon) was coined in 1818 by zoologist Georg August Goldfuss (=Goldfuß), as the Greek equivalent of the German Urthiere, meaning "primitive, or original animals" (ur-'proto-' + Thier 'animal'). [11] Goldfuss created Protozoa as a class containing what he believed to be the simplest animals. [3]
The recently extinct Steller's sea cow was the largest known sirenian to have lived, reaching lengths of 10 metres (33 feet) and weights of 5 to 10 tonnes (5.5 to 11.0 short tons). [2] Sirenians have a large, fusiform body which reduces drag through the water and heavy bones that act as ballast to counteract the buoyancy of their blubber. They ...
[2] [3] For fish and birds, this is described as gradual mouth gaping, staying open for at least three seconds and subsequently a rapid closure of the mouth. [4] Almost all vertebrate animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even fish, experience yawning. The study of yawning is called chasmology. [5] [6] [7]