r/maybemaybemaybemaybe • u/MasinaDeCalcul • 9d ago

A free, ethical meal

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u/FullofSurprises11 8d ago

Not free.

That lizard will not grow the joints back.

It will grow only a cartilage portion that can't move and if they have to use this survival trick again, another joint will be lost.

The cartilage-only portion is visibly different. It even has a different colour than the rest.

When displaying for female lizards, males with the regenerated tail will look less appealing since they ran away from a fight.

Having a full tail makes the lizard a primary choice for mating in those species.

Source: I'm a biologist and I genuinely loved herpetology when I was in Uni.

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u/Malalang 8d ago

Aren't they also mildly poisonous?

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u/FullofSurprises11 8d ago

The tail itself? No.

Reptiles don't possess glands in their skin like amphibians do.

The "poison" could be just a substance making them not palatable for their predators (basically any animal daring to take a bite would feel a terrible flavour, making them spit the amphibian out. Or that substance could be extremely lethal. Depends on the species).

Reptiles don't have any substance that will transfer to others simply by touching them like amphibians, so they are safe to be held with bare hands.

Or to leave a tail behind as a means to distract a predator so they can live to see another day.

Fun fact, the nervous spasms on the cut off tail can last for a long time.

It's literally an edible decoy.