Lizard’s tail

When I was a small child, I chased a lizard across a scree slope. I caught it by the tail, which promptly disconnected and was left wiggling in my hand. The lizard made its escape; it had autotomized.

Autotomy (Gr: auto- “self-” and tome “severing”) or self amputation is the behaviour whereby an animal sheds an appendage, usually as a defence against a predator’s grasp. The lizard has a zone of weakness in its tail allowing it to break cleanly. A new tail is then grown.

When spotted yesterday, the Western Alligator Lizard had already shed its tail in response to who knows what. 

Initial views of the head of the lizard revealed nothing unusual.

A full view shows the lizard to be truncated. The coppery coloured back reveals that the lizard is young.

As the lizard walked, three sinews (tendons?) extending from the break whipped about as if still controlling a tail.