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Call for questions: ANIMAL DEFENSES (Patreon)

Published:
2025-09-25 21:16:00
Imported:
2026-06

Content

This weekend I'm interviewing a biology professor with expertise in predator-prey interactions, specifically animal defensive behaviors, adaptations, and mechanisms. Quills, shells, spines, chemicals. Camouflage, distraction, mimicry, playing dead. What should I ask the professor? Leave your questions in the comments!

Deadline: Saturday, September 27 at 5pm PST

Files

Comments

Adam Weaver

What defenses offer the biggest benefits with the least trade-offs?

Zed Shirogane

What is the most bizarre animal defense you’ve come across? Like just a defense that makes you think “why would evolution make this happen?”.

Adam Weaver

What defenses would you most like to have?

Addison

hi, addison here. FTQA! i have a hedgehog with spiky spiky quills. i want to know about when he spikes me, it gets all red and itchy. is that something that they evolved to defend themselves on top of just being pokey? thanks!

Badoopadoo!

MOTHS WITH CUTICLES ON THEIR WINGS THAT MIMIC BAT SOUNDS! I’m dying to learn more about how they’re used for defense and also mating!

Nicky G

Colors as a warning have always fascinated me. Are there examples of animals that are colorful as a warning for predators but they arent actually poisionous or venomous?

Ron Jimenez

Is there any defense mechanism crazier than the sea cucumber?

Emily Akin

If humans had evolved a natural defense mechanism like quills, ink, or shells, which one do you think would make daily life the most interesting (or chaotic)?

Aeriel Belk

What is the grossest defense method you know of? I know vultures will puke on you, does it get worse than that?

Bennett Vanderbosch

I think at this point we know the difference between poison and venom, but that then begs the next level question of which is better! Or perhaps which is more common or more varied or more interesting?

Monica Olvera

Not so much a question as a topic — what are some instances of when a species’ defense mechanism has become a type of fetish for humans, leading to the poaching of said species ?

Aeriel Belk

I’m really interested in co-evolution/evolutionary warfare, the bats evolving echolocation then moths vibrating at a different frequency. Is this common in predator/prey relationships? What’s your favorite story of this occurring?

Dylan

south american owl butterflies— i’m so curious if they specifically have lead to any new knowledge about mimicry! their eye pattern is way more detailed than anything else i’ve seen

Person

What are some lesser known human defense mechanisms?

Justin Bowen

I wonder if fainting goats qualify...

Restless Native

Are there animals that use other animals as defense mechanisms against other animals?

spiderbeetlebee

What is the silliest defense tactic that an animal does that somehow actually works?

Charlotte Parkinson

Spraying! Inking! What the butt? Does energy deplete for the animal when they've made a defensive act? Do they need some r&r afterwards?

Samuel Schaar

How do biologists theorize thay species developed defense mechanisms of mimicry where they behave or appear like totally different species and thus deceive predatory species that know to recognize those behaviors and/or appearances?

spiderbeetlebee

Ive always thought about camouflage- how do animals that are always hidden so well find each other? Surely that can also be a disadvantage when finding a mate?

Aurora Sullivan

Why are some evolutionary traits only specific to certain types of prey? For example, goats and horizontal pupils. Why wouldn’t all prey animals develop horizontal pupils as a safety mechanism?

Olga Kolesnikova

Is screaming actually a good defense mechanism? *screams internally*

RG

Doesn’t seem to be a good defense, but animals that “taste bad”. Are they hoping one chomp won’t kill them? Or is this a weird evolutionary trait that’s more effective for the whole population vs. a single member of the population.

Greg Walloch

What are the animals that are the most defenseless and is that simply because they don't have any haters/ predators?

Sean

Ive heard that when different species of pigs (specifically the boars) see the predator before or have a moment to evaluate the predator they tend to go on the offensive to ward the predator off. Is this true? If it is, is it viable or does it just turn into Uber eats for the predator.

Pretty Bird

What (are the neatest or most innovative) advances in technology (i.e. clothing, weapons, antidotes) developments come from prey adaptations and defenses that we've adopted to improve our lives? Also, pangolins. I mean, what's up with them?

Colby Evans

Still trying to drill the word "urticating" for the irritating hairs that tarantulas can fling atchoo. Pretty cool adaptation

Colby Evans

reminds me of the classic Far Side cartoon... gotta go with humans

Maddy B

is the best defense a good offense? Or is the best offense a good defense? (sports metaphors aside, how do animals choose to attack vs hide, and is it always correlated with their predator/prey identity? Do predators even have well-developed defense mechanisms?)

Colby Evans

Any truth to ostriches sticking their heads in the sand? Benefit?

Sienna

Counterillumination in the twilight zone!

MissChris

We saw a video of a snake moving in a circular motion to confuse predators and they also make an intimidating noise when their scales rub together. Does any other kind of animal do something similar? - asked by 9 year old Jess

Euan Munro

Is there any good examples of an accelerating arms race of prey and predator adaptations? Or is evolution too slow for that?

ariel.vanzandt

This was the first animal I thought of 😆

Mini Minnie

How did we human animals get so far with crappy to no natural physical defenses? Does using tools really count as a defense negating the need to develop anything else?

ariel.vanzandt

Do animal defenses exist at all levels of the food chain?

Erin Burbidge

I'm curious about defense strategies that cause harm to the animal using them - like the lizards with tails that detach when grabbed by a predator. How does the lizard mimize infection? Are there any mechanism that increase damage with each use, but which typically wouldn't become debilitating or lethal until after the animal has reproduced?

Sunflower star

What if my best defense mechanism is just being passive aggressive? (LOL). How do "social" defense mechanisms fit in and are there any that would count in the animal world against predators? Any examples of animals that lost defense mechanisms that stopped being useful via evolution?

clairewbo

What exactly is happening inside a skunk butt? How do their glands (I assume) make that smell? What’s the refractory period on that like? Can they run out? Does it have its own hole? Why does it smell so much like weed?

A Laura Borealis

I saw the Staircase and am on high alert for territorial owls now, but how worried should I ACTUALLY be? And do you think he murdered her or that it was the owl?

Brittany Briceño

What are some of the most elaborate animal defense mechanisms?

Erin Burbidge

What about altruistic defenses, where one member of a group risks their own life to protect others? Like mother birds faking an injured wing to lure predators away, or soldier ants fighting to the death to protect the colony. Are eusocial species like bees and wasps the ones most likely to show this behaviour?

ariel.vanzandt

Can you talk about horripilation? I'm think about cats' tails puffing up, but I think sea otters do this too?

Hugh Arai

For animals that detach tails/limbs when they’re attacked, does this normally result in the individual surviving to mate? It seems like a heavy penalty to accept for not much benefit

Lj

Arizona biology teacher here! My students always want to know why horned lizards squirt blood out of their eyes as a defense mechanism? Also they think Hagfish have the coolest defense out of all the animals we discuss with all that stinky slime that they release! Every year they (unsuccessfully) beg me to raise a couple in our aquarium!

ariel.vanzandt

Are some modern human physiological responses artifacts of defense mechanisms from our ape ancestors?

Taniya Heuchert

OH MY GOSH MONARCH BUTTERFLIES AND VICE ROYS! I just learned the origins of the role of the Vice Roy term in royalty, means "in place of the King", which is fascinating given that Vice Roy has evolved to look very similar to Monarch butterflies to escape being eaten. Also, the name Monarchs and royalty? Hello all the connections! My question, how did this evolution happen? How can genetics change over the course of years to prevent being eaten?

Elinor Wahl

ALARM CALLS! Extremely complex because they're the most social kind, depending on getting the attention of someone besides the predator, either fellow prey animals or potential predators of that predator - and they can be sound-based, light-based (bioluminescence) or chemical!

Brittany Briceño

I’ve seen videos of Killdeers pretending to have a broken wing in order to distract and lure predators away from their nests (so wild, you gotta look it up!). I’m curious if there’s other animals that put on acts as a way of protecting their young?

CARLOS L DE LA ROSA

I think it could be enlightening to ask what animal defenses have proven to be medically beneficial to mankind? I’m thinking, for example, several snake venoms, the saliva of Gila monsters, leeches, bees, scorpions, and so on. Some of these venoms or secretions are incredible!

ariel.vanzandt

Are animal defenses done consciously or are they automatic? Both?

Lindsay Mixer

Is cuteness an actual defense? Cause I've heard a theory that the reason some baby animals look super cute is so they don't get eaten but I'm not sure how true that is.

Arami Farias

I would guess that several of them can be called exaptations? so I think it would be interesting to learn about how some things started developing at first serving a purpose that we might not think about today with how the characteristic currently presents itself

Alyx Rose

Why do armadillos curl up and then jump when a car drives past and they basically kill themselves?

Alyssa Ranker

Why is there so many poisonous amphibians and invertebrates but so few poisonous birds, reptiles, and mammals?

Diana Staresinic-Deane

Are there examples of animals developing defenses specifically against human predators?

A. Ortega

Are there any differences in the patterns of “group” defenses based on how animals/bugs communicate? e.g., implicit (smells, movements) vs explicit (noises) communication used for certain types of dangers or threats or urgency

Miranda Panda

How have animal defenses changed to adapt to automobiles?

Pseudonym Jones IV

Capybaras. What is their defense? How does their magnificent chill manage to protect them?

Sick and Tylered

Is there any connection between where a species sits on the food chain and what defense tactics are most likely to have? Like are distractions/deterrent more common in prey, while fighting back more common higher up?

Matt Ceccato

Skunks: what triggers their stink spray? Adrenaline or fear?

Elizabeth Litwin

Poison dart frogs!! How do they manufacture poison in their bodies? What differs in a wild diet so that captive bred frogs are not poisonous? 🐸

Dave Brewer

Is the ologist aware of any defensive adaptations in prey species that were so successful, a predator species stopped preying on them?

Allison Clark

Pygmy slow loris - are they really the only venomous mammal? Why are they like that? They are so cute!

Sydonie S.

What other animals are like skunks and release chemicals that smell as a defense?

Diana Bird

What exactly comes out of a skunk and why is it so hard to get rid of?

mashedtadoes

Is it possible for humans to freeze up and basically *die* like opossums?

Emily Staw-fur

I don't know if this would be part of this ology, but what is with nervous poops? Is that a defense mechanism?

mashedtadoes

This is my first question btw :)

Taters Schmitty

So I know there are visual mimics- like non-poisonous snakes that look like poisonous snakes so no one messes with them. But what about scent mimics- do we know of any animals that try to smell like a bigger, meaner, or scarier animal?

Frani

Is bioluminescence a form of defense?

Derek Peloquin

I would like to know more about the pistol shrimp!

Doug Paice

I've just read Sting of the Wild by Dr Justin Schmidt, of the Schmidt Pain scale. He made predictions on how painful a sting would be, based on its use as offence or defence and what is likely to need defending against. Does the same go for other venomous animals? Are defensive venoms more painful? Other than hymenoptera, what other animals use venom defensively? (BTW I wanted to suggest Dr Schmidt as a guest, but he did in 2023 😢 it's a fantastic book)

Neal Greenstein

Is it defensive when a cats tail gets super fluffy after being surprised or angered/annoyed?

KayQuimi

If porcupine use their quills for defense, but dogs will get faces full of quills 4 or 5 times and never learn their lesson, is it still an effective defense? Are other predators quicker on the uptake?

Neal Greenstein

I believe it’s just that. If I remember what my dr told me. There are nerves in our gut that react to your anxiety and cause us to poop a lot. When we have a panic attack we lose our appetite because our body sends all the blood to our limbs…away from our organs (especially the stomach-don’t need it when you’re a “runnin”.) it’s the flight for fight response. I’m no ologist just sometimes a bit wonky at times….I know these things from experience. Our bodies make like we’re at the bottom of a cliff where giant boulders are falling and we need to run for our life, except, there’s no cliff. No boulders and no real danger. Makes no sense. It wouldn’t be called panic disorder if it made sense.

Elinor Wahl

Alarm calls, whether auditory, light-based (bioluminescence), chemical or otherwise, are extremely social defense mechanisms - and some, especially bioluminescence, are intended to communicate a threat to the predator, by revealing their position to their own predators in turn

Elinor Wahl

Countless examples - one of the most well-known is the arms race between milkweeds and butterflies. Evolution isn't just a thousands-of-years thing - horizontal gene transfer also exists, and antibiotics wouldn't be approaching obsolescence if microbes didn't evolve very, very fast

Elinor Wahl

The Let's Learn Everything did an episode focusing on this, which they call 'Eyevolution'! The adaptation of round vs. elliptical pupils appears to be a difference of distance to the ground - it's more favorable for animals lower to the ground to have elliptical pupils, but for ones that stand or move higher up to have round ones. Ever noticed that small cats have elliptical pupils, but big ones have round pupils?

Elinor Wahl

Some cuckoo chicks will poop, and specifically because their feces are vile-smelling, they actually protect their adoptive siblings - a research study found that non-cuckoo chicks in the same nest as cuckoos who have developed this defense mechanism have a significantly greater chance of surviving to adulthood

Elinor Wahl

MANY. To name just one famous example, the blue death-feigning beetle

Elinor Wahl

Two words: chili peppers. This is actually ironic in that humans' gravitation to their defense mechanism has actually been a massive boon for their survival and thriving, and you could say that chili peppers have pressed us into their service

Sunflower star

Ture, I hadn't thought of it that way!

Elinor Wahl

Many. To name just one famous example, the pom-pom crab, which attaches anemones to their claws and carries them around for protection. If a pom-pom crab loses one anemone, they pull the remaining one in two, and both grow into full anemones again. Sometimes crabs will split an anemone between themselves, and in this way pom-pom crabs have initiated a long-running anemone cloning operation

Elinor Wahl

Have you, perchance, ever heard of apophallation in molluscs?

Elinor Wahl

Poison dart frogs acquire poison from poisonous species they eat. This acquired poison is also a feature of the tiny blue glaucus sea slug, which acquires its poison from dining on the Portuguese man o' war

Elinor Wahl

Because they developed their plating to deal with loud predators with jaws, not loud vehicles with crushing wheels

Elinor Wahl

Cuteness is a defense - it's called neoteny, and it's why we've infantilized dogs. They have acquired characteristics we associate with human infants, but in the process they never really 'mature' the way wild canines do, and lack social cognition and mature behaviors as well as the physical strength and prowess they would need to survive outside domestication

Elinor Wahl

Two words: alarm calls, 100% deliberate and extremely common as a form of communication. These can be chemical and light based (bioluminescence) as well as sound-based

Elinor Wahl

Absolutely. It's a form of alarm call, because it can be used to draw attention to a predator, and thus render it vulnerable to its own predators. Some sea creatures even shed bioluminescent membranes or particles to stick to their attackers, like scale worms, 'green bomber' worms, vampire squids, and many others

Elinor Wahl

It's a conscious act in response to predators, and they can actually aim the spray; it's caustic as well as smelling bad, and can impair the vision of predators

Elinor Wahl

Dogs are only kept safe from quilling by access to human medicine - in the wild, they would be very likely to die, because the quills would stay embedded in their flesh and invite infection

Ashley Tweeten

Tell me everything you know about the “scorpion rat”. How long did it take to evolve to be resistant to scorpion’s venom?

TheCole

How effective, really, is playing dead as a defense mechanism? There's plenty of animals (every dog we've ever had for instance) that are more than happy to eat dead things. Or is it specialized for one or two specific predators. One of which is definitely not golden retrievers.

John Mullen

I have the same question. Most animals have adapted to avoid humans. Why don't they learn to fear asphalt, engines, headlights. Why do they keep going in the road?

Zyz

I'd love to hear about this too!

Zyz

When terrestrial animals have a darker coloured back and a lighter belly, is this for the same camouflage reasons as animals showing this colour pattern in the ocean???

Elinor Wahl

The pistol shrimp's ability to snap their claws so fast that it creates and pops minuscule bubbles with enormous force isn't actually defensive - it's used in hunting, to stun prey, and also to communicate with potential mates. Sound is a vastly important method of communication in the ocean

JJ in Newy

Why do some creatures, like blue bottle jelly fish (Portuguese man-of-war) and Newcastle Big Boys (a funnel web spider species in Australia) have enough venom to fell a horse? What’s the biological point of a creature producing venom that’s far more powerful than needed to stun/kill their prey?

Lisa Gorman

How did the leaf mimics do SUCH a good job? How many years of evolution does it take to make an insect look exactly like a leaf?

Casey Daigle

What's your favorite Pokémon? If you were hired to design mutts for the next Hunger Games, what would you create? Which animal would you use to kill someone if you wanted to make it look like an accident? Asking for a friend.

Casey Daigle

For which animals are the defense or startle response a real problem (fatal)? I'm thinking about armadillos+cars and wondering who else suffers such situations.

Empress of Smallwood

What seems to be the most effective animal defense adaptation against humans? Are there any animals that are somehow protecting themselves from us effectively?

Ann Over

Do humans count as "animals' for defense mechanisms? How do humans rate compared to other animals in the kingdom?

Ashley B Birding

Honey badgers - how'd they get so many defense mechanisms? They've got muscular necks and thick, elastic skin to defend against bites, smelly anal gland secretions to fire stink bombs, resistance to snake venoms, and the biggest attitudes.... How did they win the defence mechanism lottery and what other animals also did?

Elinor Wahl

Honey badgers are more vulnerable than you think - their celebrated lack of fear means they don't stay away from predators, and huge numbers get killed before adulthood as a result. Only about 5% of honey badger cubs survive to reproductive age, and they have very few cubs per litter

Emily Krieger

Humans are animals so I'm wondering what our defenses are? Cause the predators are really out right now!

Ashley B Birding

What about defense mechanisms backfiring or being taken advantage of? When I lived in Kenya, at least one of my backyard birds (a Common Bulbul) learned that if they harassed geckos they would shed their tails and they, the bird, would get a wiggly tail to snack on. The geckos got to live and grow a new tail and the bird got a renewable source of snacks. Are there other examples?

Elinor Wahl

It's likely a matter of expedience - consider how molecularly simple arsenic is, and how utterly lethal that molecule is. It's probably not very costly to produce extremely lethal venom, and extremely lethal venom means that piercing your prey with the lightest puncture kills them with no struggle

Ashley B Birding

There's also probably a question about defense mechanisms backfiring re: making some animals feel invincible.

Raja

If your interviewee could choose any defense mechanism - that exists in wildlife and that humans aren't already capable of - which would they choose? Raja rhymes with papaya.

Lindsay Mixer

Oooh it has a name! Very cool. But does it work on predators in general or only those with a certain level of intelligence? I'm so curious on the mechanics of neoteny now.

Lynn

What type(s) of defense mechanisms are the most effective while taking the least amount of energy to produce?

Justin Crawford

Which comes first usually, the predators methods or the defenses? How long does it take a predator or prey to evolve/adapt to the other? Are both constantly evolving? What are some hyper specific defense (for a specialized predator) examples?

Elinor Wahl

Tomato plants pushing caterpillars into cannibalism. Not only that, but certain plants have been found to react, with defensive compound production, to the sound - isolated from any other stimulus - of caterpillars chewing, and not to react to other sounds unattached to threats

Meg Saluga

Can we talk about how anxiety is a defense mechanism? It’s designed to help us survive and perceive threats. But these days, with so many people suffering from chronic anxiety, it feels like it’s a threat in and of itself. Would there be a point where humans would evolve to no longer experience anxiety?

Meg Saluga

What is the most bizarre defense mechanism exhibited by any animal?

Jacob Morvay

Why do some insects have stingers that will kill then if they use them? What is the advantage of that?

Alicia Segura

Skunks - smell so stinky but look so cuddleable. Da heck?

Ranger France

Is there any trend of connections between different species that share the same defense? Example being hognose snakes and opossums or hedgehogs and porcupines.

Ranger France

convergent evolution; is there a link or connection that has been discovered for WHY distantly related species share the same defense?

Jonathan Cummings

Looking across species, how common is it that humans have changed things such that what were adaptive defenses are no longer adaptive. For example, I work on evaluating species status to support endangerment decisions, and learned that Pangolins defense of curling into a ball works great, until they meet an electric fence. When they do, they often curl around it and keep getting shocked until they die. Or Lesser Prairie Chicken that avoid objects over about 5 feet tall because predators can perch there and better hunt them. That worked great in flat grasslands, until humans came asking and put tall stuff in those grasslands. Now these birds avoid those areas even if there aren't actually predators there.

Ranger France

How does mimicry work in evolution? My brain just can't wrap around how so many butterflies were able to know that the monarch is poisonous, the predators know that, and then therefore evolve to look like the monarch.

Ranger France

While armadillos have a great defense of a hard shell for animals that might eat it, I like to believe that the trait of being possible carriers of leprosy is the defense mechanism against me, because I would cuddle every single one of them. I work at a nature preserve in north texas where the 9 banded armadillo is very prevalent, and if I stand still enough, they will come right up to my shoe when scrounging for grubs. I walk what I talk so I never intentionally approach or try to touch them.

Elinor Wahl

You're probably thinking strictly of eusocial insects like ants and bees - the stinging individuals are sterile, unless a queen dies, and their deaths are in service of the whole colony's survival, so it supports the fitness of the whole group

Jacob Stock

My question, how the heck do some lizards just straight up shoot BLOOD out of their eyeballs??? What would the evolutionary advantage of that even be? P.S. thanks for featuring my swiss cheese question, I laughed so hard when you said “like girl is it breathing” out loud 😂

BENJAMIN

Are there any chemicals animals on land like a squid does with ink? I guess I’m literally talking about a skunk 😅 Does that count as something to talk about?

Kathleen Regovich

Why does my cat try to hide her entire body in my armpit when I take her to the vet?

Emily T

If you could have any animal defense, which one would you pick? Also, what is your favorite defense that humans have?

Lee Wang

Can you talk about the best animal, the mimic octopus? I remember seeing the famous video of it impersonating multiple other animals -- is that a single individual who has that broad of a repertoire? Is it something that it has to learn, or is it somehow instinctive?

Andrea Devlin

Can you please talk about skunks and their spraying?? They have such a bad reputation because people think that they will get sprayed if they even get close to a skunk.

Björn Fredberg

Asking about the best defense mechanism is easy... what is the worst defense mechanism? Are there any good examples of defense mechanism working against the animal? I'm thinking; releasing too much mucus so that you get stuck yourself, spraying chemicals out your butt but not being able to effectively sense smells you need to hunt

Björn Fredberg

Why is it that we don't have any shapeshifters, like octopi, on land? Or do they exist, but they are just too good? Dun dun duuun

Scalebar

Does playing dead ever backfire? Lying down in front of a predator seems kinda risky

Kurt Swanson

What is the most surprising animal defense? Something that really seems like it should not work, but it does?

Felipe Jimenez

Do you see any similarities among marine, terrestrial and flying animals in terms of strategies for defense?

Doctor (almost!) Elder

I heard that platypus have venom in their claws, but just how dangerous are they? Has anyone ever been killed by a platypus? Are these silly goofballs of evolution actually deadly?

Elis

When / why does spite evolve? I learned about Hamilton’s rule and altruism at school but only recently found out that the opposite also exists, i.e. behaviour that reduces the fitness of the “actor” where the recipient experiences a loss rather than a gain. So sick.

Leila Laco

If you were to design a prey animal from scratch, what would be the ultimate combination of anti-predator defences?

Britt Kline

I’ve heard of this! YES. Would love to hear much more about this and other fascinating plant defenses involving “senses” that seem very un-plant-like. 😃

Witch Hazel from Maine

Where I live, when I think animal defense, I think porcupines and skunks. And they’re the most chill animals in the forest. They’re clumsy, slow, don’t see particularly well, and nothing seems to bother them emotionally because of their effective defense adaptations. Are these characteristics true for animals in other parts of the world with good defenses—are they also ambling through the world seemingly unbothered because their defense adaptations make up for any need for going into offense mode? And if so, how can humans be more like them?

Staci Pinkowitz

I’m curios ab the evolution of the fight/flight/freeze/fawn response!!

Brain 🧠 Shenanigans

Exactly how long does the evolution of defense mechanisms take? Can it be a generation or two, or does it take decades/centuries/(millennia?!) for these defenses to really take hold and become dominant traits?

Brain 🧠 Shenanigans

Are you seeing a change in the evolution of defenses in the modern era due to climate change? Do you think it’s possible animals may evolve to adapt to threats in their environment rather than against a predator/their prey?

Jo

What's an animal defense that most people don't realize is an animal defense

Kevin kasch

I’m really into EXO skeletons. When it comes to shellfish, they use partially as armor, partly to keep all the gooey bits in. Apart from the chemical composition of the two, what are some of the big differences between having a solid exoskeleton and mammals having extremely thick hides or reptiles with shells.

Emily Z

Can we talk about slow lorises and their venomous elbows? What?!?

Elinor Wahl

Bioluminescence, to name just one

Elinor Wahl

There are no recorded platypus fatalities for humans

Elinor Wahl

Industrialized humans can't really be unbothered without rigorous mental training or without withdrawing from the industrial way of life, because that way of life necessarily means we need to pour massive amounts of energy into sustaining difficult-to-sustain systems and infrastructure while constantly worrying about their failure

Elinor Wahl

This mimicry isn't restricted to the animal kingdom - look up boquila trifoliolata. The strategy of impersonating multiple species is widespread enough to have its own name: mimetic polymorphism

Dave Langlinais

What is the single WEIRDEST animal defense - aaaaannd GO.

Leora Shimon

what kinds of methods do predators evolve to get around prey defenses? What predators are immune to prey poisons? Are there predators who just don't care about getting spikes in their face? Adaptations to better spot camouflage?

Elinor Wahl

There are not only predators that aren't harmed by prey poisons, they can actively commandeer them into their own service - for instance, the poison dart frog and the blue glaucus sea slug, who happily eats Portuguese men o' war and makes use of their venom

Elinor Wahl

The headless chicken monster - yes - is a sea cucumber that can shed its bioluminescent outer membrane to stick to predators, and in turn make them targets for their own predators

Shayla Borger

So I work at a pet store and we sell live feeder insects including crickets. I have always heard, and have always told customers when it comes up, that when one cricket dies they all die because after death they release a chemical that will kill off the rest of the crickets. Is this true? if so, WTF? That's like, the opposite of a helpful survival thing.

GhoulNextDoor

What kind of defenses do humans have? Is our ability to build things and for community considered a defensive strategy? We seem otherwise pretty squishy compared to animals with teeth and armor and poisons. Are there other defensive adaptations that humans almost evolved or that the ologist could see having potentially emerged in us if evolution had taken a different path?

GhoulNextDoor

Are there cases where adaptations arise to defend against others of their own species? Such as for warding off competition, protecting young, or batting away unwanted mating attention?

Brittney Corrigan

Is it true that possums don't have control over their "playing dead" reflex, and that they can't wake up from it at will?

Dave Langlinais

That's friggin COOL! I have never heard of that before! Thank you Elinor, you just made my day! Why do they call it a headless chicken monster, though? Aren't sea cucumbers basically just ... squishy tubes? Where's the resemblance to a chicken?

Elinor Wahl

Two words: duck genitalia

cheesemonger

What is the most subtle way you’ve observed an animal defend themselves?

Mini Minnie

Talking to someone about a chinchilla just yesterday, she said “be careful, support his back end because if he’s stressed he may de-glove himself.” Um…what?? It was recommended I look it up but it kind of scares me to do so. If it’s explained here I’ll listen. What is de-gloving and how is it helpful as a defense?

Elinor Wahl

‘Degloving’ is a large section of skin detaching completely from the underlying flesh

Michael Michetti

I really want to understand how evolutionarily, it makes sense for animals (like some lizards) to be able to fully detach a body part as a defense...I mean, I get it on one level, but that is a heck of an evolution from "keep the body intact"

Han the Bee

One of my all time favorite species is the Horned Lizard (horny toad) that is native to my home state of Texas! They famously squirt blood from their eyes when threatened. Can we please discuss this bizarre defense mechanism?

Han the Bee

Are fainting goats exhibiting a defense mechanism? If so, how can this possibly have an evolutionary advantage? It seems like a huge risk!

Mini Minnie

You had to say something . . . ew

cheesemonger

are we seeing any micro evolutions as smaller animals adapt to having to defend against humans/industry?

cheesemonger

like are armadillos getting harder? for example

Saira (‘Sarah’) Manns

Are these animal defenses categorised into the same trauma responses as humans, ie Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn?

Saira (‘Sarah’) Manns

I still don’t understand why bees die after stinging… how is that a defence mechanism if they won’t survive anyway? Is it just like a final “fuck you, if I’m going down you’re coming down with me” to the attacker?

Saira (‘Sarah’) Manns

Elinor - I beg your FINEST pardon?!? Off to fall down a tomato-shaped rabbit hole

Saira (‘Sarah’) Manns

I can’t remember if Casey Clapp mentioned this on the Dendrology episode, but I love the factoid about the trees that giraffes eat sending out messages to all the surrounding trees, who then make their lower-hanging leaves taste gross lol

Nancy

I listened to an interview with Tim Coulson that touched on the introduction of predation in the Cambrian Explosion due to the increase of calcium carbonate in the ocean. Are there other times in the history of the world that we know of where there was a huge change in predation and defensive behavior due to large scale environmental changes? And are there any possible predictions you can make about ways in which climate change is likely going to effect animal defensive behaviors?

Elinor Wahl

Because bees are eusocial, and the non-queen females don't reproduce, their deaths don't harm the reproductive fitness of the family that is the colony, and death from stinging is acceptable in evolutionary terms because the defense lets the colony continue to live

CurtisDawg

Do all animals adhere to the fight or flight rule?

Frani

Thanks and wow that is cool!

Marla J

My dog barks differently for deer, coyotes, or other dogs. The cats pick up on it. Do animals in the wild pick up on each other's warnings? For example do squirrels listen to warnings from birds when hawks or eagles fly over? What other possible examples are there?

Marissa Jacobsen

Why are porcupines so spiky and also so cute? Why do I still want to pick one up and snuggle it?

Katy

Compared to other strategies hedgehogs use (ex: burrowing), how important are their quills? Generally, what is the hierarchy of defense mechanisms for animals? Asking as a former hedgehog mom. Wish I could have another, but the dog that I adopted after we lost the hedgie definitely would not allow it.

Aeriel Belk

Ooh I actually know this! The fainting was bred into them by goat herders in Appalachia on purpose! It isn’t a defense for them, it’s a defense for the rest of the herd. So, when a predator comes, the fainting goat distracts them and the other, more valuable goats can get away!

Aeriel Belk

My life is greatly enriched by knowing this, thank you!

Graycee Maldonado

I was wondering why certain animals play dead vs. Fight vs. Flight? When is it more advantageous to do one over the other?

Mindy Corcoran Turley

Can you explain the evolution of mimicry? I understand why but how? It would appear that somehow group mind of one animal (for example a butterfly or a moth) would have to recognize the details on an animal of another species and how said details deter other animals and go, "hey, big eyes are scary let's put 'em on our wings". How does it actually come to be?

Mindy Corcoran Turley

Similarly, some non-poisonous animals mimic the colorings or patterns of poisonous ones. Who/how/when/where/why? Why not? Which snake elder does the complicated math equations to figure out whether the bright colors to relay "poison, do not eat" are worth the trade off of then being much more visible in general? Nature is infinitely smarter than we will ever be. Love!!

Charlotte Fjelkegård

This sounds fascinating! Where did you listen to this interview?

Andy Pepper

Are there colonial or pack animals where an individual will volunteer as tribute to save the others?

Andy Pepper

Pangolins! The only mammals with scales! Is there fossil evidence scales have evolved jn mammals before?

Andy Pepper

Are there animals that poop for defense and not just out of fear? (Does it matter?)

Kyla C (KAI-luh, rhymes with Myra or Lyla)

please tell me the most unhinged evolutionary “arms race” you’ve heard of between predator and prey species! we’ve heard about snake venom/venom immunity, stronger senses/sense evasion, etc.

Kyla C (KAI-luh, rhymes with Myra or Lyla)

are there any examples of specific populations developing behavioral defenses (vs defenses shaped by evolution/genetics)? like is there an island of XYZ species that learned to employ a certain bird call or lifestyle or mating behavior to evade predation that no other population of XYZ does anywhere else

Kait

My question is inspired by the P22 and Road Ecology episodes! Do any animals appear to have developed defenses or behaviors related to roads and vehicles, on land? (Also curious about traffic underwater or in the air?) (P.s. Would be grateful for any recommended studies or resources, if they come up! Currently studying puma behavior with an interest in urban ecology comms so thanks again for those previously mentioned episodes!!!)

Kait

THIS IS SO COOL

Kait

Is there a specific term for that feeling you get when you encounter an animal and think: oh damn, I’m prey I’m thinking of being at a zoo, fully aware of the animals and that I’m safe, but still getting *that feeling* when I hear a lion’s roar or realize a puma has been staring at me this whole time.

Elinor Wahl

Certain species of cuckoo chicks make an extremely foul-smelling poo when their nest is disturbed, and in fact, a study discovered that the adoptive siblings of these invading cuckoo chicks have a significantly higher chance of surviving to adulthood

Elinor Wahl

Ants and bees do this constantly - bee stings are fatal to the stinger, simply because in evolutionary terms, the death of an individual bee is an acceptable sacrifice to sustain their family group. The colobopsis saundersi ant will explode their abdomens when threatened, releasing a toxic compound to protect their nestmates

Elinor Wahl

There's a whole episode about porcupines! Check out 'Erethizonology', with Dr. Tim Bean

Elinor Wahl

No skunk episode yet - you may be thinking of the recent rerun of the 'Lutrinology' episode about otters

kp42

What’s it like inside a fresh water turtle shell? And who can get inside, in terms of predators?

Bryodiversity

It’s also worth noting that worker honeybees only die after stinging because their barbed stingers get stuck in the thick, fibrous skin of vertebrates like us, so that they eviscerate themselves when attempting to withdraw. The venom gland and the muscles that pump it are left behind, so while the worker dies, her victim receives the largest possible dose of venom. (Apparently their stingers don’t get stuck in the comparatively thin cuticles of other arthropods like spiders and wasps, so they can sting those predators without dying.) All other female bees, including queen honeybees, have smooth stingers, so they can sting any enemy repeatedly.

Claire Gebben

Please talk about the sweet wombat's armored butt!!! 🥹

SaintSpud

I would love to learn about any symbiotic relationships between critters for defense purposes.

SaintSpud

What critters have the highest defensive success rate?

SaintSpud

Are there any non-obvious defensive mechanisms that are also used offensively? i.e. camouflage is obviously good for both sides.

Ella Thompson

Which seems to be more successful? An aggressive type of defense like quills, or something like camouflage?

Bryodiversity

Enypniastes eximia isn’t your typical sea cucumber. This deep-sea species has a plump, red-tinged, translucent body comprised mostly of water, and rows of webbed tentacles that enable it to do something most of its relatives can’t: swim. Even by the standards of the deep ocean, a swimming sea cucumber is an exceptionally bizarre sight, and between the plump pinkish body comparable in size and shape to a Cornish game hen, undulating frills in roughly the same equivalent locations as the wings and legs of a roast chicken, and a mouth vaguely resembling the hole left behind by a decapitation, “headless chicken monster” was probably someone’s best attempt at describing this creature the first time they observed one alive. Here’s a video from EVNautilus so you can decide for yourself: https://youtu.be/YnR-Agj7crM?si=StJH9AGUayYakhib 🙂

James Orsatti

Which is the most bizarre defensive mechanism in the animal kingdom?

Time Dr., Phd

I know some animals get warnings from other species about predators lurking. What do you think about interspecies socializing and or just the ability to do quick conditioning (learning which sounds mean "cheese it!") as defensive adaptations?

Time Dr., Phd

I recall learning big bucks die to predators more than smaller does and foals because they refuse to run away - they're more motivated to eat and put on weight for sexual competition than they are motivated to preserve themselves. So they look the most well defended (big antlers, muscles, etc) but die the most. Is there a term for defenses that are good in one arena, like fighting other bucks off, but bad at helping against predators? Or on a similar line, how do you think about differentiating defenses against parasites vs predators?

Scotty Dee

Baby cheetahs - honey badgers .... remarkable example of Batesian mimicry which I hope you talk about.

Bryodiversity

I know of two snakes—the Sonoran coral snake and the western hooknose snake—that use “cloacal popping” (basically farting on command) to repel predators. What, if anything, can you tell us about these ophidian flatulists? And have you in your research caught wind of any other animals that employ fartial arts in self-defense? P.S. Alie, if it comes to pass that you are unable to discuss this topic in this episode, I hope you will consider rectifying it by at some point interviewing Dr. Bruce Young and/or colleagues, who first described cloacal popping in the article “Cloacal Popping in Snakes”, published in the December 1999 issue of the Journal of Herpetology.

Sam Bloom

(first time question asker!) Could you talk a bit about the evolution of animal defenses? What are the oldest known forms of defenses? Do defenses get "better" over time, or do they mostly evolve to cope with changing predators? Are there any examples of a back-and-forth where a prey evolves a defense, a predator evolves a counter to that defense, and so on?

Sandra Mendenhall

What does this ologist personally consider to be one of the most curious/interesting/weird animal defense adaptation?

rowantree

Have animal defenses shifted or changed in any way over time because of interacting with humans?

star_bandit

How and why is the honey badgers defense so strong

Robin Norris

Honey badgers are the bomb! Ask Randall. ;)

Elinor Wahl

They're actually not that adaptive... honey badgers' lack of fear is so detrimental to their survival, that only about 5% of cubs survive to reproductive age, and they have a very low reproduction rate

Elinor Wahl

Look up the relationship between butterflies and milkweeds, for one thing! This sort of constant evolutionary competition is extremely common, and has contributed a massive amount to the robustness and diversity of predator-prey species; you could really think of it as a long-term form of cooperation

Elinor Wahl

Bioluminescence. Extremely common in the ocean, extremely effective as an alarm call. Alarm calls in general are both defensive and offensive, because part of their purpose is to draw the attention of the predator of the predator of the creature making the alarm

Lily

What would be the sickest animal defense that the scientist wishes they had as a human?

Lily

Why horns and antlers? Why did they evolve? How useful are they?

Lily

Are hooves an animal defense?

Lily

What comes first, the icky taste or the warning color? Evolutionarily

Jenny McNish

Did humans copy the idea for armor and shields from the wild life around them that had exoskeletons and stuff or did people just figure out "hard thing protect squish"?

Dave Langlinais

Whoa. Yeah that is definitely a WILD sea cucumber!

HangryAuntie

Now I'm wondering: what's Racoon for "NARC!"

Aretha Tanklin

This might be a little too specific, but is there a reason New World tarantulas use “I WILL MAKE YOU ITCH” as a defense while Old World Ts just prefer their bite make you regret being born?

KR

Defense mechanisms or behavior that freak people out and give the animal a bad wrap, even though they're not generally dangerous to humans: possums open mouths, birds that musk, bats erratic flying behavior, non-venomous snakes shaking their bodies. Obviously, leave wild animals alone, but we don't need to automatically kill a defensive animal that's in our yard.

Julian Di Donato

Are there categories of defense mechanisms that most people are unaware of? For instance, we all know about scales, quills, poison, and sharp teeth. What are some lesser-known categories, and which animals possess them? Why do they have these defense mechanisms? How might animals have evolved and actually transformed their defense techniques?

Nate

If dinosaurs count some of the large Sauropods had crazy whip like tails that paleontologist think could crack the sound barrier. The Pachycephalosaurus headbutting debate, Scientists once believed the dome was for headbutting, but the skull's structure suggests it was too weak for direct, head-on blows.

Ellie

Does UV factor into animal defense\camoflauge?

Honeydew

The butterflies likely don’t know that the monarch is poisonous. The butterflies who have accidental genetic mutations that happen to make them look similar to the monarch have a higher survival rate and thus reproduced more passing down that mutation. This would increase the amount of monarch look alikes in the gene pool and overtime can create an entire population of monarch look-alikes.

Honeydew

I second this

Honeydew

Human evolutionary defense mechanisms. Is screaming when frightened an example? What about running away? What about those of us that faint when afraid, is it like a fainting goat?

Elinor Wahl

UPDATE: For everyone asking about bees dying when they sting, guess what? 99.96% of bees STING WITHOUT DYING. In fact, a good proportion of them, like the gorgeous and formidable Xylocopa caerula, will let potential predators have it with both ends, clamping down with their jaws while administering venom, and will live to tell the tale

Jessica Verkruisen

Hedgehogs, why do they sound so adorable they huff at you (pets) do different species exhibit different defensive behaviours? Why are they spiked but not barbed? Are they related to porcupines? Also could we please have an entire episode about Hedgehogs!

Jessica Verkruisen

Please discuss the strangest creature on earth, the platypus and what on earth is happening with them?

Opal

Visually Isopods and armadillos seem so similar in how they defend themselves. Do their defenses actually work in the same way? (First time asker!)

Opal

And there’s a whole ologies episode that says this!

Sue Taylor

I can't find this episode