Doom reflex
As unkenreflex a passive defense or startle response is some frogs and salamanders referred to, in which the animals in the prone position reflexively make an extreme hollow back, the limbs twisted to stretch above and in this way large areas of their brightly colored bottom (especially throat and inner surfaces Limbs). Behavioral researchers interpret this convulsive posture, which is sometimes also called the “punt position” because of this characteristic shape, to the effect that potential predators become aware of the red or yellow warning colors that warn of the skin toxins of these amphibians . The secretion released at the same time also smells very intense and thus enhances the effect of the signal color . The animal remains in this state for a short time with closed eyes and suppressed oscillation of the throat , so that it can also be interpreted as a form of akinesia (dead reflex, paralysis).
Name derives from the genus is the prophecies (see, for example: fire-bellied toad , yellow-bellied toad ), in which this behavior is considered a particularly typical. However, it is also seen in some other amphibians, such as the relatively close to the prophecies related obstetricians toads (which, however, do not have a warning coloration), the South American melanophryniscus , but also in tailed amphibians such as juvenile cross tooth newts , some Rhyacotritonidae or the spectacled salamander , the twisted his tail. A behavior pattern that is sometimes described, according to which toads literally throw themselves on their backs and thus present their entire stomach side, is doubted by other authors and should only be observed very rarely, if at all.
literature
- Klaus Kabisch: Dictionary of Herpetology. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena 1990, p. 441. ISBN 3-334-00307-8