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Hey guys, another one of my threads.
I haven’t made a thread in awhile, and this one is completely different to my usual animal threads.
As I always state, this list isn’t going to be perfect, so I always encourage people to make their own top ten-twenty lists with their own research. This is the best I came up with, with my own knowledge and as you know, I am very involved with animals. Please do not take these lists so seriously and just enjoy them for what they are, considering they are just meant to be a bit of fun. With what I’ve studied over the years, I always want to show everyone my own research so it’s all in good nature.
This list is in no particular order, so I haven’t labelled them with numbers.
Many animals contribute to Filial Cannibalism (consumes their own infants)/Intrauterine Cannibalism (consumes their own eggs)/Self-Cannibalism/
****y (“eating of children” /Sexual Cannibalism, even mammals such as chimpanzees (highest rate of a mammal that does filial cannibalism), dogs, dolphins, hamsters, pigs, lions, leopards etc. Short tailed crickets demonstrate self-cannibalism by eating their own wings, some species of octopus will eat their own tentacles in distress or hunger. And many fish such as the Orange Chromide act in ****y, and lamnoid sharks and fire salamanders do Intrauterine Cannibalism.
If none of the images work for you, please let me know, and I’ll change them, thanks.
The Top Ten World’s Most Bizarre Cannibalistic Behaviour in the Animal Kingdom
Emperor Scorpion
The females are particularly aggressive towards the males, in some cases. Like some species of spider, the females sometimes eat the males before, during or after mating. Other species of scorpion have been known to do this as well.
North American Rat Snake
Rat snakes have been known to show self-cannibalism behaviour. One captive snake attempted to consume itself twice, dying in the second attempt. Another wild rat snake was found having swallowed about two-thirds of its body.
Green Anaconda
Cannibalism among green anacondas is well documented, most recorded cases involving a larger female consuming a smaller male. While the exact reason for this is not understood, scientists cite several possibilities, including the dramatic sexual dimorphism in the species, and the possibility that a female anaconda requires additional food intake after breeding to sustain the long period of gestation. The nearby male simply provides the opportunistic female a ready source of nutrition.
Redback Spider
The redback spider is one of only two animals to date where the male has been found to actively assist the female in sexual cannibalism. In the process of mating, the much smaller male somersaults to place his abdomen over the female's mouthparts. In about two of three cases, the female fully consumes the male while mating continues. Males which are not eaten die of their injuries soon after mating. Sacrifice during mating is thought to confer two advantages to the males. The first is the eating process allows for a longer period of copulation and thus fertilisation of more eggs. The second is females which have eaten a male are more likely to reject subsequent males. Although this prohibits the possibility of future mating for the males, this is not a serious disadvantage, because the spiders are sufficiently sparse that only 20% of males ever find a potential mate during their lifetimes. Approximately 65% in cases, the female eats the male. Black widow spiders have been given their name due to people believing they carry the same traits as other spiders, but in fact, the three species of North American black widows do not usually kill the male. Males can sometimes even live in the web of a female for a while without being harmed in any way. That’s in no way saying that they don’t, because the females have been known to kill the males, just less common than the redback.
European Velvet Spider
Not only does the female eat the male (although this doesn’t happen as often as the redback), the female’s offspring eats their own mother alive as well. Not much other than that has been studied on these spiders but they are so far, the only animals to actually do this, and it’s only in this velvet spider specie, none of the others. Although, the European tube-dwelling spiders also eat their mothers, but only if she has died before they have hatched.
I haven’t made a thread in awhile, and this one is completely different to my usual animal threads.
As I always state, this list isn’t going to be perfect, so I always encourage people to make their own top ten-twenty lists with their own research. This is the best I came up with, with my own knowledge and as you know, I am very involved with animals. Please do not take these lists so seriously and just enjoy them for what they are, considering they are just meant to be a bit of fun. With what I’ve studied over the years, I always want to show everyone my own research so it’s all in good nature.
This list is in no particular order, so I haven’t labelled them with numbers.
Many animals contribute to Filial Cannibalism (consumes their own infants)/Intrauterine Cannibalism (consumes their own eggs)/Self-Cannibalism/
****y (“eating of children” /Sexual Cannibalism, even mammals such as chimpanzees (highest rate of a mammal that does filial cannibalism), dogs, dolphins, hamsters, pigs, lions, leopards etc. Short tailed crickets demonstrate self-cannibalism by eating their own wings, some species of octopus will eat their own tentacles in distress or hunger. And many fish such as the Orange Chromide act in ****y, and lamnoid sharks and fire salamanders do Intrauterine Cannibalism.If none of the images work for you, please let me know, and I’ll change them, thanks.
The Top Ten World’s Most Bizarre Cannibalistic Behaviour in the Animal Kingdom
Emperor Scorpion
The females are particularly aggressive towards the males, in some cases. Like some species of spider, the females sometimes eat the males before, during or after mating. Other species of scorpion have been known to do this as well.
North American Rat Snake
Rat snakes have been known to show self-cannibalism behaviour. One captive snake attempted to consume itself twice, dying in the second attempt. Another wild rat snake was found having swallowed about two-thirds of its body.
Green Anaconda
Cannibalism among green anacondas is well documented, most recorded cases involving a larger female consuming a smaller male. While the exact reason for this is not understood, scientists cite several possibilities, including the dramatic sexual dimorphism in the species, and the possibility that a female anaconda requires additional food intake after breeding to sustain the long period of gestation. The nearby male simply provides the opportunistic female a ready source of nutrition.
Redback Spider
The redback spider is one of only two animals to date where the male has been found to actively assist the female in sexual cannibalism. In the process of mating, the much smaller male somersaults to place his abdomen over the female's mouthparts. In about two of three cases, the female fully consumes the male while mating continues. Males which are not eaten die of their injuries soon after mating. Sacrifice during mating is thought to confer two advantages to the males. The first is the eating process allows for a longer period of copulation and thus fertilisation of more eggs. The second is females which have eaten a male are more likely to reject subsequent males. Although this prohibits the possibility of future mating for the males, this is not a serious disadvantage, because the spiders are sufficiently sparse that only 20% of males ever find a potential mate during their lifetimes. Approximately 65% in cases, the female eats the male. Black widow spiders have been given their name due to people believing they carry the same traits as other spiders, but in fact, the three species of North American black widows do not usually kill the male. Males can sometimes even live in the web of a female for a while without being harmed in any way. That’s in no way saying that they don’t, because the females have been known to kill the males, just less common than the redback.
European Velvet Spider
Not only does the female eat the male (although this doesn’t happen as often as the redback), the female’s offspring eats their own mother alive as well. Not much other than that has been studied on these spiders but they are so far, the only animals to actually do this, and it’s only in this velvet spider specie, none of the others. Although, the European tube-dwelling spiders also eat their mothers, but only if she has died before they have hatched.
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