# The surprising reasons animals play dead

- Institution: TED
- Department: TED-Ed
- Speaker: Tierney Thys
- Year: 2018
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Biology, Medicine and health, Teaching and learning
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/tierney_thys_the_surprising_reasons_animals_play_dead)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

From lemurs to lizards, ants to amphibians, sharks to chickens, hundreds of animals "play dead" as a survival tactic. But how and why do animals do this? Tierney Thys explains how this curious behavior, known as tonic immobility or TI for short, can be used as a defense or offense. \[Directed by John R. Dilworth, narrated by Susan Zimmerman, music by William Hohauser\].

## Lectures

1. [The surprising reasons animals play dead](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/tierney_thys_the_surprising_reasons_animals_play_dead/2d06709406cb), 5 min (TED's player)