Why do lizards grow their tails back? How a lizard throws off its tail A lizard easily breaks off its tail

in the world wildlife competition is unusually high, and every day of life for most species of animals inhabiting our planet is associated with survival. How to protect yourself and your offspring from attacks by predators? This difficult task every living creature decides in his own way: you can run away, hide somewhere high or, conversely, deep underground, disguise yourself. But one of the most interesting ways Lizards are endowed with protection.

Surely you have all seen these small, nimble creatures in the forest or park, perhaps you even tried to catch one of them, but this is not so easy! Lizards have a very flexible and mobile body, but if you still manage to grab the lizard, then you will only have its tail in your hands. This is how, in case of extreme danger, this creature can throw away part of its body.

Why does a lizard need a tail?

In fact, the tail is a very important part of the body for a lizard. It stores reserves of fat in case of a long absence of food, like the humps of camels. In addition, it helps the lizard move and acts as a fifth paw; with its help, it maintains balance and balance; the secret of the lizard’s speed and maneuverability is in its tail. And aquatic species use the tail as a fin. And the appearance of an animal with a tail is much more threatening to relatives and fellow tribesmen. The tail also helps the lizard escape in case of danger.

Why does a lizard drop its tail?

Not all species of lizards can shed their tail. The discarded tail of a lizard allows you to distract the enemy and increase the victim's chances of salvation. The tail, after being shed, is alive and is capable of bending and jumping while lying on the ground. This attracts the enemy, and he loses sight of the lizard, which at that moment runs away and hides.

The enemies of a lizard in nature can be different animals, including their relatives, for example, big lizard may attack the little one. The lizard can also be attacked by birds, such as owls, hawks and eagles. There are cases when lizards are attacked and large predators, such as bears, foxes, wolves. Snakes can be considered another enemy.

How a lizard throws off its tail

The lizard's tail is an extension of the spine inside the animal. The spine itself is divided along its length into cartilaginous sections, which individually work independently. These areas are connected by ligaments. In times of danger, the lizard assesses the situation and comes to a conclusion about what to do. When there is great danger, the lizard throws its tail towards the enemy to save its life and one of the ligaments comes off. As a result, one of the animal's cartilaginous sections is separated, and she is able to survive without it.

Does a lizard grow a tail?

Despite the fact that a lizard can restore a lost limb - the tail grows back, but this process is quite different in duration depending on the age of the animal. A small lizard can grow a new tail within a month, but for large lizard it may appear no earlier than in a year.

In addition, the vertebrae are not restored, so the new limb no longer consists of bone tissue, but of cartilage. During this time, the animal's chances of survival are significantly reduced, but this is the price of salvation. Also, the tail of a lizard is an important part of the body for balancing, which helps it turn in the required direction. When a lizard has a tail, it stores fat and water. When the tail is thrown back, the lizard is deprived of its reserves and it needs to go in search of food more often to replenish its energy. The lizard mainly feeds on grasshoppers, worms, snails, and butterflies.

If a lizard throws off its tail several times during its life, then each time it grows closer to the head. Therefore, lizards try to study the situation as accurately as possible during danger and decide whether it is worth losing a part of the body that is important to it.

Lizard lifestyle

This type of animal is present in almost every country where warm climate. They live in forests, swamps, fields and even populated areas. Lizards can also be found on the mountain. During sunny day, the lizard can crawl out of its hiding place and climb onto a log or other warm place. That is why a person often sees a lizard in his life. They climb not only on vegetation - trees, bushes, but can burrow into the sand.

IN winter time The lizard goes into hibernation and comes out of it only in the spring, when the air temperature is at least 4 degrees. It is in the spring that lizards reproduce and mate. At the end of autumn, when the air temperature drops below 10 degrees, the lizard goes into hibernation again.

Lizards can not only swim on water, but also walk along its bottom. Not every animal is endowed with such physical abilities. If a lizard at the bottom of a pond feels in danger, it can burrow into the mud to protect itself from enemies.

In this article, you will learn why a lizard drops its tail? Many species of lizards have a defensive reaction such as dropping their tail. With this amazing ability, the reptile manages to free itself and escape.

The animal throws off its tail only in extreme cases, when there is no other option to escape. Those types of lizards that have teeth, claws or shells resort to this method self-defense in exceptional situations.

Losing a tail saves a lizard from death, but does not bode well for it. Sometimes, after losing this part of the body, the reptile loses the ability to reproduce or its ability to find food is sharply limited.

The tail is an essential part of the lizard's body. She needs it, first of all, in order to maintain balance while walking, running, swimming and climbing. The tail is especially necessary for those species that climb trees, because they use it as a fifth limb. For example, geckos and iguanas have special devices, with which they can cling to the surface.

Some lizards lose their ability to swim after losing their tail. In any case, after the tail is discarded, the reptile has to radically change its lifestyle. It must be said that they do not always succeed.

Individuals who have lost their tail find it difficult to maintain a leading position among their peers, as well as find a partner. Tailless lizards can starve because fat sometimes accumulates in this limb, allowing the lizard to survive in times of famine.

But still, when the tail falls off, it plays an invaluable role - it saves the animal’s life. Self-defense, by throwing away the tail, has scientific name"autotomy".

Some lizards separate the entire tail completely, for example, desert individuals; their tail, after dropping, twitches for some time, attracting the attention of a predator. But large and slow species do not cast off the entire tail, but only most of it.

We all know that lizards drop their tails when they are in danger. However, not many people know how this happens. interesting phenomenon and why. In this article you will find answers to these and other questions.

The tail of reptiles is one of the most important parts of the body. The tail helps control movement, can be used to attract the opposite sex, etc. However, one of the most interesting features tail is the ability to shed it.

The thing is that lizards have non-ossified layers in the tail vertebrae. Tail breaking occurs because the lizard sharply contracts its tail muscles. This ability is called autotomy. Those. the tail breaks in the place where there are unossified layers.
At the same time, the lizard has no noticeable blood loss, since a sharp contraction of the tail muscles tightens the blood vessels.

Main goal Throwing the tail away is a distraction for the enemy. While the attacker is distracted by the tail, the lizard manages to run away or hide. At the same time different types lizards do it in their own way. Sometimes lizards deliberately raise their tails. In such lizards, the tail is usually painted in a bright and contrasting color.

At the same time, the detached tail begins to wriggle wildly. Why is this happening? But because when thrown, the lizard sharply contracts the muscles of its tail. As a result, the muscles begin to slowly relax, causing the tail to wiggle. In addition, immediately after shedding the tail, it begins to die off. nerve cells which cause muscles to contract involuntarily.

As a rule, the tail grows back after a few months. However, the lizard still suffered great harm to its health.

The thing is that the special vertebrae do not grow back, which means it will not be possible to lose the tail a second time. Those. A lizard can pull off the tail-throwing trick only once in its life. It is also important that in order to grow a new tail, a lizard needs a lot of energy and effort. As a result, the lizard at the moment of growing its tail becomes very vulnerable to predators. Dropping the tail saved the lizard's life, but left it in a very dangerous position.

Lizards generally try to cast off their tail only as a last resort. In addition, lizards do not try to throw off their tail completely, but only its tip. As a result, the tip grows back, and the lizard has the opportunity to shed its tail again in case of danger.

In general, lizards value their tail very much for several reasons. Firstly, lizards store fat in their tail (like beavers). Those. The lizard needs the tail in times of famine, when there is no way to find food. Moreover, many snakes and crocodiles also store fat in their tails. Therefore, the size of the tail can determine the level of health of the animal. If the lizard drops its tail, and then "hunger times" begin, then the lizard may simply die from lack of nutrients.

In addition, the tail is very necessary for most reptiles to move. Thanks to the tail, some lizards can run on their hind legs, jump or swim. Some snakes and lizards have small special scales on their tails that allow them to cling to branches.

And finally, the most important purpose of the tail is to attract the opposite sex. In many species of reptiles, certain movements of the tail indicate a signal for approaching. The tail is needed both to attract a partner and during battles and fights. In addition, for many animals, body size determines their place in the world. social structure. Those. a lizard without a tail appears smaller to other lizards, and therefore weaker. In general, in the animal world, the one who is larger in size is more important.

Some species of reptiles can shed not only their tails, but also their skin. The lizard begins to spin violently, causing some of its skin and scales to be shed.

Tails are very valuable for lizards. Some species of lizards, after dropping their tail, return for it. If the enemy leaves a tail, the lizard itself eats it to replenish its energy reserves.

After reading this article, you should remember that catching lizards means putting them at great risk. Even if you then release the lizard without a tail, it will most likely die due to severe exhaustion. If you really want to demonstrate your dexterity, then find yourself more useful activity than catching lizards, snakes or newts. In addition, you can look at reptiles at the zoo.

Many people, when talking about health, begin to regret that many things need to be abandoned or significantly limited, but they are so accustomed to them. Of course, it’s nice to feel sorry for yourself, but the truth is that it’s impossible to sit on two chairs. IN difficult situations the choice is almost never pleasant, safe and profitable. Therefore, today I want to talk about the principle of the lizard’s tail about the inevitability of painful losses in order to preserve key resources in conditions of danger, stress and forced circumstances. The instinct of self-preservation makes us avoid risks, and the instincts of survival help us take risks. How to find balance?

Conflict of instincts: self-preservation is stronger than reason.

In an ambiguous stressful situation, a conflict often arises between two basic instincts: survival and self-preservation. The instinct of self-preservation is special shape behavior aimed at protecting one’s own life and health.

Self-preservation instinct- this is an innate form of behavior of living beings in the event of danger, actions to save themselves from this danger. The realization of this instinct is served by such feelings as pain and fear. Pain is usually felt as an abnormal condition of the body that must be eliminated in some way. Fear makes a living being seek refuge. Animals hide and run away, and people try to protect themselves from the source of stress.

But what if this is impossible to do? Unable to run and hide from a stressor that continues to cause damage? Many people resort to various mental defense mechanisms in an attempt to come to terms with their current position. They justify this by saying that “ bad world better than a good war,” trying to preserve what they have at any cost. But the unpleasant truth is that such a strategy will not work in a truly serious situation.The instinct of self-preservation makes us avoid risks.

Instinct makes us squeeze in and not let go of what we have under any pretext. It's like an organism that blocks fat burning under stress)). It looks reasonable, but in reality we are like monkeys caught in a banana in such a situation. This is the way in India and South Africa catch monkeys. A jar with a narrow neck is tied to a tree. A banana is placed in a jar. A monkey passing by sees a banana and, putting its paw into the jar, grabs it from the wide space of the jar.

Now the monkey is trying to pull the banana out of the jar, but he is unable to do so because his narrow throat does not release the paw clutching the banana. The monkey sees the catcher approaching him, wants to run away, but cannot, because he cannot get his paw out of the jar, which is tied to the tree. Although she clearly will not enjoy meeting the catcher, and the banana and the jar are certainly the causes of her troubles, she never wants to part with the banana, which would allow her to remove her paw from the jar. She is literally tied to a banana, which has turned from a potential source of pleasure into a source of suffering. We are like such a monkey. There are a lot of “bananas” in our lives that we are accustomed to or strive for, and although they cause us suffering, we cannot part with them. Some of them are all sorts of habits, such as cigarettes, coffee, tranquilizers, alcohol, fantasies, illusions or other values. These things are not bad in themselves, but in some cases they can be detrimental to our health or happiness. And we, understanding this, nevertheless, cannot get rid of them, because we are accustomed to them and consider them “part of ourselves.”

Survival instinct and risk.

The survival instinct is a life impulse that is directly related to the fear of death. Death in this case means everything that is dangerous, that makes us feel weak, the sensations that a crisis provokes and to which we respond with this impulse of libido, what evolutionists would call the feeling of survival. The survival instinct allows one to overcome the instinct of self-preservation in cases where hiding or avoiding a stressor becomes unprofitable. From a survival point of view, it is more profitable to take risks. A feature of the instinct for risky behavior is that it is manifested by a decrease in the instinct of self-preservation, because pushes an individual into dangerous behavior that can lead to injury or even death. Risk behavior is also influenced by culture and social conditions. A person has always existed in a situation of need to demonstrate risky behavior, i.e. making a decision whose consequences are uncertain and often negative or even deadly. The threat of predators natural factors, wars created an almost constant situation of risk. Risk propensity is a fairly stable characteristic of an individual and is associated with such personality traits, such as impulsiveness, independence, desire for success, tendency to dominate.

Throwing away what is necessary for survival.

A classic biological example comes from the mechanism of action of leptin. This hormone regulates metabolism and helped our ancestors survive in difficult conditions of calorie deficiency. Unfortunately, modern calorie counting theory does not take this mechanism into account. How did prisoners in concentration camps who received 700 to 800 calories a day manage to survive? If the calorie counting theory is correct, then, according to it, they should have died when all their stored fat reserves had been used up, that is, after a few months.

Let’s say that with a daily need of 2500 calories, a person consumes exactly this amount of calories over a long period of time. If suddenly this number of calories decreases to 2000, then the body begins to compensate for the missing amount through reserve fat, and, accordingly, weight loss occurs. On the other hand, if the calorie intake is established at the level of 2000 after a previously received 2500, then the body, under the influence of the survival instinct, will quickly adapt to precisely this level of calories. And then the weight loss will stop. But the body is very smart. The survival instinct will prompt him to be even more careful, and this caution will be aimed at creating reserves. If they continue to give him only 2000 calories, well, good! He will reduce his energy needs to 1,700 calories, for example, and store the difference of 300 calories in reserve as visceral fat. And here a paradoxical thing happens: although a person eats less (and his body, accordingly, receives fewer calories), he begins to slowly gain weight, storing fat in the liver and mesentery.

In these cases, the body goes into deficit mode to slow down energy expenditure and survive. difficult times. It is known that many animals can even hibernate. The deficit regime is an adaptation to times of famine. The body in deficit mode tries in every way to slow down the consumption of calories. This includes stopping fat burning, slowing down physical activity, decreased motivation and performance, suppression of sexual and reproductive function. This is a shutdown of the thyroid gland and ovaries. Deficit mode is the activation of eating behavior to search for high-calorie foods, turning off saturation and maximizing fat gain.Under stress, leptin helps us survive by turning off what we can do without: immunity, reproductive system, skeletal system, putting the body into deficit mode. But leptin does not save on the cardiovascular system, and this is understandable: stopping its energy supply will lead to death.

Leptin and the lizard principle.

The hormone leptin teaches us simple wisdom: we need to be able to sacrifice in order to survive. Unwillingness to sacrifice what is important will not give you the opportunity to win in difficult situations. We must be willing to sacrifice our maximalism (all or nothing) for our own salvation. Let's take the example of a lizard. She doesn’t hesitate to leave her tail in the teeth of a predator or in our hands, but she saves herself. It is critically important to learn how to make choices.

Any stressful situation involves at least two options: the worst is to leave everything as it is and wait for the worst, the best is to sacrifice relatively little, save yourself, your health and win. \If personal boundaries are inadequate, applying the lizard's tail principle is problematic. Why? If you believe that something is an integral part of your personality, then you cannot sacrifice it. And many people have extremely inflated personal boundaries, which make them very clumsy.

This is the lizard principle: give away what is important in order to keep what is important. The lizard principle is tail (body part) in exchange for life. Preserve the vital, irreplaceable from the replaceable, not necessary for survival. To properly understand this metaphor, let me remind you that it is not so easy for a lizard to shed its tail. Therefore, before doing this, she assesses how great the threat to her life is. The process of dropping the tail is completely regulated by the brain and is not a reflex.

How does this happen?

The lizard's tail is a spine of several zones connected to each other by cartilage, ligaments and muscles. Each zone can be torn. When threatened, the muscles and ligaments in the immediate area contract, tear, and the tail is separated. The severed tail continues to contract and move, thereby diverting attention to itself. And at this time his former owner is running away from danger.

When a lizard grows a new tail, the vertebrae at the site of the tear are not restored, and cartilage forms in their place. Therefore, each time the gap gets higher and higher. The tail of small lizards grows in about a month. For larger ones, this process takes up to one year.

A lizard without a tail is no longer so nimble and fast, it may lose the ability to reproduce, runs and climbs poorly due to the lack of a “rudder”. Water lizards can no longer swim and are forced to change their lifestyle. But the main thing is that in many lizards the tail is used to accumulate fat and nutrients, which means that all their energy is concentrated in the tail. Therefore, after it comes off, the animal may die from exhaustion. Therefore, a rescued lizard often tries to find its tail and eat it in order to restore lost strength.

Conclusion.

Ask yourself how much do you want to survive? Remember the freedom-loving predators who bite off their own legs after falling into a trap. I remember an episode from one film, where the leader of a guilty mafia offers a choice: bite off his finger with his teeth or he will be shot. The offender failed and was killed. Could you?

The lizard is such a fascinating living creature that watching it can delight even the most avid exotic lovers. Their characteristic feature is that they are able to restore parts of their body, that is, they are characterized by regeneration. How a lizard casts its tail and whether the lizard's tail grows back, as well as the structure of this part of the body and the reason for this behavior will be discussed below.

Functions of a lizard's tail

The lizard's tail takes over large number functions that have a huge impact on the entire body as a whole. It is not only a beautiful part of the body, but also shows the level of pride and dignity of the animal.

The most important is the auxiliary function during the movement of the lizard. It is thanks to the tail that the lizard is able to balance while moving, as well as turn in the direction it needs.

The main effects of the lizard's tail are:

• Provides an auxiliary function during jumping.
• If the lizard is aquatic, the tail helps to dive and also swim in the water.
• Due to the presence of small Velcro located on the tail, the lizard is able to stay on a smooth surface and not slide off it.
• The lizard's tail has a connection with the entire muscular system of the body.
• The tail plays the role of a certain storeroom in the body, in which it is stored most nutrients. Its size, namely thickness, indicates the health of the pet.
• Reptiles can communicate with each other using their tails, sending them certain signals. By putting its tail in a pose, the lizard warns the opponent of its intentions to attack, or, conversely, communicates friendliness.
• Lizard's tail mating season is a part of the body that attracts the attention of a partner, or female partner, and also during the mating process, it provides an indispensable auxiliary function.

Is it possible for a lizard to live without a tail?

A lizard without a tail that lives in a terrarium is not an equal individual for its other cohabitants. Because in the absence of this important limb, the lizard becomes significantly smaller in size, which plays a huge role in the world of reptiles. The advantage goes to individuals whose size exceeds all other representatives. Consequently, tailless lizards remain at the bottom of the reptile hierarchy.

That is why, if your pet previously had superiority over its other inhabitants, without a tail the reptile will lose its status, and will also experience persecution from its relatives in the form of not being allowed access to food, water, and even a female.

In nature, there are lizards that have lost the ability to grow a tail over time; an example of such a representative is.

In what cases does a lizard remain without a tail?

Even taking into account the fact that the reptile will experience all kinds of persecution from other representatives, as well as a significant reduction in its size, sometimes there are situations when the lizard throws off its tail. The answer to the question of how a lizard throws its tail is the ability of lizards to strongly compress the muscles located on the tail. It is at this moment that the reset occurs.

In most cases, the animal acts in this way when it is in danger.

The muscles present on the tail have a pinching effect on the blood vessels, as a result of which the tail falls off, and in the place where it joined the body there is no trace or blood left.

What is surprising is that the severed tail of a lizard can still move for some period of time. This ability of the tail distracts the attention of the pursuer, and the lizard can safely hide. In this case, the reptile prefers to hide and not show itself again until the tail is restored to its original place.

In a home terrarium, tail loss can be caused by the animal being severely frightened or stressed.

The presence of several tails in a lizard

There are times when owners are upset that their exotic pet has become like some kind of fictional fantasy character. The presence of several tails in a reptile can serve as such an expression. This phenomenon has a scientific explanation, therefore it is completely normal, and does not mean that the animal is unhealthy or has undergone a mutation.

The fact is that the lizard throws off its tail, and it happens that only part of it falls off, and the rest remains in place. The lizard's body has an instant reaction to the breakdown that has occurred, perceiving it as if the tail had fallen off completely. Accordingly, the reptile begins to grow new part body, despite the fact that the old tail still remains in place. In the tail of a lizard there are only cartilages, and there are no vertebrae; accordingly, in the regeneration process of this type, the lizard will become the owner of two tails.

It's quite possible to get rid of this appearance lizards. You just need to take the reptile to a veterinarian who can remove its extra limbs. However, it is worth thinking several times about whether it is necessary to interfere with the natural development of the animal, exposing it to unnecessary stress.

Sometimes a reptile may develop not one, but several tails. Then, in order to avoid injury to your pet, as well as to ensure additional safety, it is best to contact a clinic for help, where doctors will remove the animal’s excess tails.

Lizard's help in growing a tail

Will the lizard's tail grow back? Without a doubt! But a reptile grows a tail only if it spends a sufficiently large amount of strength and energy on its regeneration. Consequently, some emaciated individuals may not even survive after dropping their tail, since their body is weakened and they simply do not have enough strength to resume their previous appearance. To help your for a pet, you should provide it with all the necessary comfortable conditions, as well as a balanced diet. To ensure that relatives in the terrarium do not show aggression towards the tailless lizard, until the tail is restored, it is better to keep it in a separate dwelling.

In most cases, the reptile will restore its previous appearance within 2-3 months. However, if the lizard has not grown its tail after this period, it would be best to consult a veterinarian for advice.