Space Daily·3 min read·medium
A cockroach can survive for about a week without its head, dying eventually of thirst rather than injury, because its open circulatory system and body-wide breathing let it function long after decapit
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Space Daily Editorial Team
✦AI Summary
American cockroaches can survive for up to a week without their heads due to their open circulatory system and decentralized breathing through spiracles. They eventually die from dehydration rather than the trauma of decapitation.
Entomologists who have spent careers studying the American cockroach Periplaneta americana will tell you the same thing: cut the head off a healthy adult and it will keep standing for the better part of a week.
science
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