Eli5: Why do cockroaches flip upsidedown when they die?
In: 6
Roaches have a high center of mass, since a lot of the lower part is lightweight legs and air. That means physics can knock them upside-down a lot easier than flipping them back around.
When there are things to grab onto, like twigs and roots and rocks, that’s not too hard for a Cockroach to undo. But when they’re flipped over on a smooth tile floor, there’s not much to grab, so they can get stuck and unable to right themselves.
So it would be more accurate to say that “Cockroaches on their backs die” rather than “Cockroaches die on their backs”. If you’ve ever seen a Cockroach die on carpet, it’s typically right side up.
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