Eaten beetle exits the other end alive

摘要

For most insects, the sticky, slingshot ride straight into a frog's mouth spells the end. But not for one stubborn water beetle. Instead of succumbing to digestive juices, an eaten Regimbartia attenuata swims through the stomach, scurries along the intestines and climbs out the amphibian's butt, alive and well. Surviving digestion-by-predator is rare, but not unheard of. Some snails survive the trip through a fish or bird by sealing their shells and waiting it out. But a study in the Aug. 3 Current Biology is the first to document prey actively escaping through a predator's backside.