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Talk5 min

Why don't poisonous animals poison themselves?

Rebecca Tarvin · TED

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About

Thousands of animal species use toxic chemicals to defend themselves from predators. Snakes have blood clotting compounds in their fangs, the bombardier beetle has corrosive liquid in its abdomen and jellyfish have venomous, harpoon-like structures in their tentacles. But how do these animals survive their own poisons? Rebecca D. Tarvin details the strategies that protect animals from themselves. [TED-Ed Animation by Giulia Martinelli]

The talk

  1. Why don't poisonous animals poison themselves? 5 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED-Ed
Speaker
Rebecca Tarvin
Year
2018
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Biology
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Tweens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed