spontaneous removal or casting off of a body part (as the tail of a lizard or claw of a lobster) especially when the organism is injured or under attack
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Examples of autotomy
autotomy
The autotomy rate is a measure of the ease with which lizards shed their tails.
From the sciencedaily.com
Autotomy of the tail, a feature found in some lizards is absent in most snakes.
From the en.wikipedia.org
This individual's tail, which had been shed through autotomy, is regenerating.
From the en.wikipedia.org
Economy of arm autotomy in the mesopelagic squid Octopoteuthis deletron.
From the sciencedaily.com
In Nairobi, Seifert was able to document the first known case of skin autotomy in a mammal.
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There are also many species that will drop their tails in defense, a process called autotomy.
From the en.wikipedia.org
Tail-shedding, known to scientists as caudal autotomy, is a common anti-predator defense among lizards.
From the sciencedaily.com
Conversely, all the locations where vipers have survived are inhabited by lizards with high autotomy rates.
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To measure autotomy rates, the researchers combined field observations and laboratory measurements.
From the sciencedaily.com
- Spontaneous removal or casting off of a body part (as the tail of a lizard or claw of a lobster) especially when the organism is injured or under attack
- Autotomy (from the Greek auto = "self-" and tomy = "severing") or self amputation is the act whereby an animal severs one or more of its own appendages, usually as a self-defense mechanism designed to elude a predator's grasp. The lost body part may be regenerated later.
- The voluntary shedding of the body parts of animals, usually in defense. Autotomy of the tail is common in many lizards.
- Ability to cast off a body part, usually at a plan of weakness. Usually the part can be regrown. Sea stars, Brittle stars and crabs can regrow body parts. Crabs do so in a process called moulting.
- An animals capability of shedding a limb to escape the clutch of a predator.
- The ability of most lizards to lose their tail. This is beneficial in lizards as it aids in escaping a predator. ...
- The self-amputation of a limb or body part in order to escape predation; e.g., a western banded gecko can shed its tail or an immature walkingstick its leg when threatened, then regenerate the excised part, although not perfectly.
- To deliberately sacrifice a part in order to preserve the remaining whole, as in a feint or retreat; to cutoff a portion to improve the potential for survival of the balance; as literally derived from "self excision". ...
- Self-severing, or self-amputation. In this case, the ability of a lizard to drop it's own tail.
