Why Animals Keep Self-Amputating

Some lizards will lose a tail to avoid becoming a meal, but there's more than one reason for animals to self-amputate. Go to http://Brilliant.org/SciShow to try out Brilliant’s Daily Challenges. Sign up now and get 20% off an annual Premium subscription. Correction: [ 00:21 ] The process of ditching a body part on purpose is known as autotomy, not autonomy! Hosted by: Rose Bear Don't Walk SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It's called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at http://www.scishowtangents.org ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Alisa Sherbow, Silas Emrys, Drew Hart. Jeffrey Mckishen, James Knight, Christoph Schwanke, Jacob, Matt Curls, Christopher R Boucher, Eric Jensen, Adam Brainard, Nazara, GrowingViolet, Ash, Sam Lutfi, Piya Shedden, KatieMarie Magnone, charles george, Alex Hackman, Chris Peters, Kevin Bealer, Jason A Saslow ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow ---------- Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/08/science/decapitated-sea-slugs.html https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00047-6 https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/28/4/1047/3748244 https://theconversation.com/the-extreme-tactic-of-self-amputation-means-survival-in-the-animal-kingdom-118503 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/evo.13948 https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/28/4/1047/3748244 https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/17/3/353/201485 https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/16/2/377/297882 Image Sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elysia_marginata_(14217590519).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Severed_skink_tail.webm https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elysia_marginata_(14217590519).jpg https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00047-6 https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/green-chloroplasts-in-plant-cells-gm116864378-6143246 https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/leaf-footed-cactus-bug-on-a-prickly-pear-cactus-gm1218469776-356053220 https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/close-up-coreid-bug-on-plant-tree-on-nature-green-background-squash-bug-gm1135040766-301807999 https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/golden-orb-spider-in-its-golden-colored-web-gm1144142561-307484993