The Mystery of the Lizard Tail

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk660

Keywords:

Biomimetics, Lizard Tail Autotomy, Fracture Mechanics, Adhesion, Cohesive Zone Models

Abstract

Quick breakage of lizard tails to escape predation has remained a mystery for centuries. Our study explains the balance between firm attachment and the quick release of the tail and highlights the lizard's way of achieving the “just right” connection for its best chance of survival.

Author Biographies

Navajit Singh Baban, New York University Abu Dhabi

Postdoctoral Associate

Yong-Ak Song, New York University Abu Dhabi

Associate Professor

Original article reference

Baban, N. S., Orozaliev, A., Kirchhof, S., Stubbs, C. J., & Song, Y.-A. (2022). Biomimetic fracture model of lizard tail autotomy. Science, 375(6582), 770–774. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh1614

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Published

2022-10-17

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 4 (2022)

Section

Evolution & Behaviour

License

Some rights reserved 2022 Navajit Singh Baban, Yong-Ak Song

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.