English Explanatory Dictionary

autothysis

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A process by which an animal destroys itself via internal rupture or explosion of an organ.

Word forms

autothysis

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek roots αὐτός (autós, “self”) and θυσία (thusía, “sacrifice”); proposed by Maschwitz and Maschwitz in 1974 to describe the defensive mechanism of the carpenter ant Camponotus saundersi.

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