Whoa! That is one heck of a defense mechanism. Salamanders, and I think lizards, will lose their tale as a means of escaping and then just grown the tail back. Squirting blood out of the eye. Wow. Go evolution! Thanks for sharing @valth!
RE: The horned lizards (Phrynosoma spp.) shoot blood out of their eyes to protect themselves against predators
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The horned lizards (Phrynosoma spp.) shoot blood out of their eyes to protect themselves against predators
Yeah, it's a really cool strategy to fending off predators! Loosing their tail in order to get away from a predator is also a nice adaptation, but it seems a lot more costly in terms of how much energy is used per escape. I wonder how long it takes to regrow the tail on average.
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Definitely more costly in terms of energy. Lizards store fat at the base of their tail which is an important source of energy so I imagine it is a last resort mechanism to drop the tail. I did a quick search, because I had no idea, and it can take 3 months or as much as 2 years for a lizard to grow their tail back. I certainly see why shooting blood is much more efficient.
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Oh, it is even most costly than I had anticipated. If they are only able do do it (on average) once a year or so, then it must really be a mechanism that only triggers in the event of almost certain death. Now I feed bad for all the lizards who lost their tails due to small children wanting to see for themselves!
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Hahah, indeed!
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