Need for a study

cbdridetpoa · Member Joined: Apr 05, 2008 Posts: 42

i was looking up the regeneration of lizards tails. And I found out that the only research or information is very little. The only thing that came up was the fact that doctors are trying to do it in humans. I have recently answered a forum about someone's tegu that had lost its tail. Tango lost his so i know how to do it but what about the people that have other lizards that had lost their tails. How do people know if it drops to high on the tail or if it is regenerating right? There is situations where a tail can half fall off and a second tail grows and then there is an old tail and a new tail. I was just wondering why no one has ever studied the tail regeneration. Even to just watch as the tail heals and record it so that people have something to compare it to. I understand that engaging this study would mean that we would have to purposely lose their tails. But once the tail has heals there is rumors that it affects the lizard socially and behaviorally. There are a lot worse things that they do to animals "for the sake" of science". If this study has been done but i cant find it people need to know about it. The only thing that people know about regeneration is what the pet store tells them and that is not always the best information.Can anyone help me with this does anyone have anything about this.Someone has to have info even if its a bunch of jumbled information I or we can piece it together and have it accessible to the public.

tupinambis · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 8:27 pm Post subject:

Actually, quite a lot is known about this phenomenon. You probably didn't know where to look or under what terms. Many lizards lose the tail as a defensive mechanism. Tail breakage, or urotomy, occurs by two mechanisms; autotomy and pseudautotomy. In species with caudal autotomy, tail breakage is facilitated by the development of fracture planes within specific vertebrae and by the arrangement of caudal muscle bundles and connective tissue that permits easy separation; tail loss is generally under control by the animal and regeneration will occur. Segmented myomeres are exposed but not torn and blood vessels in the tail usually excessively stretch before breaking so that elastin in the vessels constrict and little bleeding or fluid loss occurs. In some lizards, only a single fracture plane is present in the tail, but more commonly there are several or many fracture planes along the length of the tail. The tail that regenerates is typically shorter and is internally supported by a solid rod of cartilage rather than bony vertebrae. Scalation is typically modified (scales are usually smaller) but basic pattern is somewhat retained (ie. small scales dorsally, large ventral scales). In tegus, the colour of the regenerated scales appears dictated by the skin at the break and if the tail break is at an angle, the regenerated tail will regrow perpendicular to the fracture plane (as opposed to straight out and longitudinally). Typically, once the tail is dropped, it will spontaneously thrash about to attract predator's attention, and in some species this action can persist for a couple hours.
Tails that are not completely avulsed can result in a secondary regrowth so that a forked tail results.
In contrast, in pseudautotomy the tail breaks between vertebrae, is not spontaneous and no regeneration occurs.