Monday, November 4, 2013

Suicide in Non-Human Species

Humans are said to be the only animals that are able to consciously imagine things. Some other animals are also able to, however they are either unable to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, or pretend/play games. In that sense, humans are believed to be the only animals that consciously commit suicide; however, thats not true. Other organisms also have this capacity even if its not in terms of psychology.

Salmonella
"Suicidal behavior has been observed in salmonella seeking to overcome competing bacteria by triggering an immune system response against them."(Wikipedia).

Salmonella kill themselves when healthy bacteria is sure to beat them out of the intestines where they reside. Now that sounds kind of dumb right? But its not, because only 15% go on the suicide mission. The other 85% get to reap the rewards. The suicide mission starts with them invading the intestinal walls. This triggers an immune system response which kills them but also many other micro-organisms. This removes any competition so the other salmonella can proliferate

There have been reports of other animals committing suicide but no real evidence to prove the claims.

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