Thanatosis as an anti-recognition m

Thanatosis as an anti-recognition mechanism works by making the prey appear unpalatable to the predator. In principle, this could ride on a simple disgust mechanism, since thanatosis is often accompanied by urination and defecation, or by other chemical defences, such as the frogs’ ammonia-like breath, which the predator might find yucky. According to this interpretation, the success of thanatosis would not involve the predator conceptualising anything about the prey’s corpse-like appearance. Instead, the animal in thanatosis would just appear disgusting.