He was only dead for a week.

This fella.....

This is a Southwestern IronClad beetle that I caught and presumed dead on an austin trail about a week ago. Since his capture and thorough examination which led to the conclusion of his postmortem state he has been kept in a back pack and then transferred to a small cardboard box with other trinkets and keepsakes. After an entire WEEK of playing dead without water, without food, without moving it popped its black legs out and began to attempt to conquer the box wall. Apparently these beetles play dead for an extremely long time as a defense mechanism. They also move like sloths, so I don't know if I would have noticed even if he was moving a bit. They feed on lichens and little is known about them but there have been reports of them living up to seven years in captivity! This guy is about the size of a nickel. I will release him this weekend after I study him thoroughly. So far he is not interested in peanut butter like I had hoped, only the dry fungal families of the forest.

another related species...just telling lies