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In some species at least, it’s not really suicide, more of an all-in reproductive strategy. In these species, a female will stop eating so that she can spend 1
by mentalpiracy 6y ago
In some species at least, it’s not really suicide, more of an all-in reproductive strategy. In these species, a female will stop eating so that she can spend 100% of her life tending to the egg mass, protecting it from predators as well as using her arms to circulate water around the eggs for proper oxygenation (the mass is stationary, usually adhered to rock or an otherwise sheltered crevice).
Unlike fish eggs, octopus eggs generally take several weeks to hatch once fertilized. Going this long without food basically starves the brood mother to death (or makes it exceedingly unlikely that she will be able to recuperate on her own).
I realize you still could describe this as suicide with extra steps, per your comment.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago> octopus eggs generally take several weeks to hatch once fertilized. Going this long without food basically starves the brood mother to death Birds solve this problem by having the male bring food to the female.
- noisy_boy 6y agoOnly if they would stop eating the males; males sharing more caring attributes could have produced more offspring and furthered the trait