Scorpions Can Hold Their Breath for 6 Hours

When a flash flood sweeps through the desert, most creatures scramble for higher ground. Scorpions? They just stop breathing and wait it out.

These armored arachnids can hold their breath for up to six hours, an ability that seems wildly excessive until you consider their habitat. Desert flash floods can submerge burrows for hours at a time, and scorpions evolved to simply outlast the water.

How They Pull It Off

Scorpions breathe through structures called book lungs—stacked plates of tissue that look like the pages of a book. When submerged, they can seal these openings and dramatically slow their metabolism.

Their secret weapon is an incredibly efficient respiratory system combined with the ability to enter a near-dormant state. While underwater, a scorpion's heart rate and oxygen consumption plummet, stretching their air supply far beyond what seems possible for such an active predator.

Desert Survival Champions

Holding their breath is just one item on an impressive survival résumé:

• They can survive on a single insect per year if food is scarce
• Some species tolerate temperatures from below freezing to over 115°F
• They've been found alive after being frozen in ice overnight
• Scorpions can survive losing up to a third of their body weight in water

Scientists have even frozen scorpions solid, thawed them the next day, and watched them scuttle away as if nothing happened.

Ancient and Unchanged

Scorpions have existed for over 430 million years—predating dinosaurs by roughly 200 million years. Their basic body plan has barely changed because, frankly, it works. When your survival toolkit includes holding your breath for six hours, shrugging off extreme temperatures, and eating once a year, evolution doesn't have much to improve.

The next time you see a scorpion, remember: you're looking at a creature that would survive most apocalyptic scenarios without breaking a sweat. Or taking a breath, for that matter.