In the world, there are animals with such a vigorous life that even the head is cut off, they can still… live well for a while longer.
There is evidence that after cutting off a part of the body, some species can regenerate the new ones, and some species, even when losing their heads, can still kill other species with their venom.
10. Octopus
About 300 species of octopus have been discovered by scientists in the vast ocean world. And these invertebrates contain so many interesting things that have surprised us.
They have up to 3 hearts, blue blood, and the ability to reproduce tentacles if cut… With a multitude of weird tricks, the octopus is known by many people as “sea monsters”, which we still see in the famous movie Pirates of the Caribbean.
Octopuses are part of the Octopoda family and have a soft-bodied body similar to that of squid. The octopus’s body structure is boneless, without a hard outer shell.
The unique hardware of the octopus is shaped like a parrot beak, located under the head, between 8 arms.
Octopus is also a species that not only has a brain at the head. The dense neuron system is distributed in the tentacles so that they can still have normal reflexes.
In addition to the ability to reproduce tentacles after being cut, they also have the ability to live after being beheaded. How admirable!
9. Cockroach
Referring to cockroaches, I think of the stench and disgust. However, they have the typical superpower of being alive although beheaded.
What a beast! Whenever I mention cockroaches, I really shiver with all my heart! As a cold-blooded creature, cockroaches require less blood for daily activities than hot-blooded animals.
Therefore, their blood circulation is not as fast as other species. When the head is cut off, they can promptly seal the wound and perform daily activities normally without the head.
In addition, they do not have just a brain in the head. The nervous system is distributed throughout the body to help them continue to fly and move as usual.
8: Chicken
Many times in our lives do we see chickens still living or running after losing their heads, but they can only survive for a short time.
However, there are still thrilling stories. Famous for the story of the headless live chicken is the rooster named Mike in Colorado, USA.
After being beheaded in April 1945, this chicken can still live for 18 months later. After his death, the doctor examined Mike’s body to discover the cause of its living well even without a head.
Accordingly, the cut did not hurt Mike’s jugular vein, so the blood clot was able to stop blood from flowing to the end.
And even though the head was cut off, the brain was still intact, so Mike could still live another 18 months.
With this strangeness, it has brought 56,000 USD every month for the owner due to the curiosity of visiting people.
7: Mantis
They are named Stagmomantis limbata. Looking at this tiny creature, it’s hard to imagine that it possesses extremely abnormal characteristics.
Not only does the female mantis eat “mates” after mating, but the mantis can also turn its head 180 degrees and they have only 1 ear.
And yet, after being beheaded, they can still “wander” for a period of time before they actually die. Here is an astounding example of this species.
The video recorded the unusual mating behavior of the Bordered mantis in Eastern Sierra, California, USA.
In the video, the mantis continues to mate and fertilize the egg after the female bites off the head.
It seems to accept giving up itself to provide the necessary energy for females who are about to be mothers. This is an extremely unusual phenomenon
6: Frog
In fact, the beheaded frog still has muscle contraction reactions, helping them to jump, and even swim underwater until they starve to death.
Even the frogs’ legs still twitch severely as alive if exposed to a pinch of salt, when sodium causes a chain reaction that leads to muscle contraction.
The reason is that the frog’s nervous system is not entirely dependent on the brain and leads to the body’s powerful unconditional reflexes when stimulated due to the transmission of electrical impulses to the muscle, creating muscle contraction.
5: Snapping Turtle
The snapping turtle has its scientific name as Chelydra serpentina. Snapping turtles are distributed in southeastern Canada, eastern Nova Scotia, and Florida.
Possessing a jaw that can bite any turtle shell of the same species and a fierce shape like a “descendant” of a dinosaur, the turtle with scientific name of Chelydra serpentina is the largest freshwater turtle in the Chelydridae family.
More horribly, one of the “food” of the snapping turtle is the corpses floating in the river. The snapping turtle is known to be hot-tempered and aggressive.
They prefer shallow waters but they are capable of diving up to 2m – 3m deep. When their heads leave the body, they remain their biting reflexes after some time before the actual death.
4: Fruit fly
he second flying candidate on this list is the fruit fly. Fruit flies can still fly, park, crawl, and even do “sex” as usual when their head is cut off.
The reason is due to their special body structure. Fruit flies have an “extra brain” in their chest, which replaces the main brain to help the body function normally.
In addition, light-sensitive cells throughout the body of the fruit fly remain active when they lose their heads, helping them to respond to light normally.
3: Wolf eel
Unlike its name, wolf eel is a fish, not an eel. The scientific name is Anarrhichthys ocellatus.
Because of its elongated shape, this species of wolffish family living in the North Pacific Ocean is often mistaken as an eel, and it is always called wolf eel.
The head of a wolf eel can still bite you even if it has been cut off from the body. In fact, it is most likely suspended to be between life and death.
Wolffish, like other fish and amphibians, are heterothermic or cold-blooded animals. They do not need to keep a constant temperature as 37 degrees Celsius as humans, so they do not lose energy and oxygen for heating.
In the midst of that living and dead moment, the nerves may remain active, and it has triggered unconditional reflexes on the jaw muscles.
The unconditional reflex is instinctive, possibly inherited, and lasts forever throughout the life of the creature, even when they’re near the death, as the case of this wolf eel.
And here is the most interesting part of the video, which is explaining the most controversial photo.
In the picture is a snake, although the head has been cut off from the neck, they are still very aggressive as if they are about to attack the enemy.
How terrifying! This photo is not real but this species is the main part that I am introducing now! Let’s go back to…
2: Snake
For warm-blooded animals, the metabolism is extremely powerful and it only takes a few minutes of oxygen deprivation for the brain to stop working.
However, being a heterothermic reptile, cold-blooded snakes are the opposite. In fact, if a mammal loses its head, it will die immediately.
Still, healthy snakes can live for a few minutes or hours after the “head is cut off from the neck”.
A beheaded snake does not mean its nerves stop working. In low-level animals such as snakes, the nervous system commands conditional reflexes located in its body.
Thus, the nervous system, including the brain, can function separately from the rest of the body.
Therefore, even though the snake’s head is beheaded, colliding with another object it can still lead to a bite reflex.
The biting reflex is especially strong in poisonous snakes because their instinct is to release a quick bite, crawl and wait for the venom to take effect.
A good example is when Jeremy Sutcliffe, a resident of Texas, USA, discovered the 1.2-meter long rattlesnake when clearing the grass in the garden and decided to cut off its head with a shovel blade.
When Sutcliffe took the animal away, the head bit his hand and he died later! So scary! This is a lesson for many people in the world.
1: Salamander
Mexican salamander is endemic to Mexico. Mexican salamander is a very unique creature, with the ability to recreate as people on the Namek planet in the series “7 Dragon Balls”.
The most special is the ability to heal itself. That is, when the leg, tail, or… a part of the heart is cut off, the salamander will recreate immediately without leaving a scar!
They can even be cut off so many times without affecting their life. This regeneration is completely impossible in mammals, including humans. Because, if animals are injured, macrophages – a type of immune cell – will “eat” dead cells and leave scars.
The Mexican salamander is the opposite. When a limb is cut off, a group of cells called Blastema will cover the wound, heal and regenerate.
Thanks to the Blastema cell group, the salamander can partially regenerate the damaged heart.
Today, because they are easy to breed in an aquarium, salamanders are bred as pets in many parts of the world.
Meanwhile, the less fortunate salamanders will be brought to Japan and turned into… crispy fried food! The animal world has so many surprises that we must explore and animals have such extraordinary abilities that we cannot expect.
