Use it or Lose it: Reptile Dysfunction
By Seraphine Khorana on January 30th, 2010Posted In: Comics
3) Lizards without tails lose strength, dominance and "territory" to bigger, fully-endowed lizards. 2) When a lizard's tail grows back, the new tail is going to be smaller and less colorful than the original. 1) Lizards who have tails can run faster than those without tails. The moral of this tale? When threatened by predators, tuck tail and run.
Geckos and other lizards not only shed their tails to confuse predators (or people), but their tails' movements suggest they literally "have a mind of their own," Canadian researchers have found.
Quotation from CBC News, Technology and Science section
Has 3 lizard tails and a baseball card in my backpack.
Tweet from Schneidermike on Twitter
Lizards are cool… no really, I mean they are cool, especially in the hot sun.
I almost stepped on a 3 footer in Australia – it was a Mullet lizard, which I think is pretty funny (the name, not the big long thing that made me hop about).
Don’t all males’ tails have a mind of their own?
RD is not a good thing. I wonder whether they tell their reptilian friends “This has never happened to me before. I swear” when they loose their tail.
Oh my…wish I could think of something clever to say…but I can’t.
This is a good and goofy post, Sera ! You really make me smile.
The donkey is a bit doubtful…
Could a reptile have some erectile issues?
He will try to take carefully care on this issue!
wow that was a great one lol funny AND educational lolol not a reptile dysfunction lol that totally made me laugh out loud, i’ve been watching movies all day so my brain is listless too hehe, you must have picked up my sore tailbone vibe, i do NOT know what i did to my tailbone but it sure hurts, maybe i was warding off predators ha!
lizards scare the hell out of me. no lizard, no.
~` yes they can regrow….. will humans learn this?
perhaps the way they now harvest stem cells is on that path..
I love the tree branches picture!!
I like very much you composition, but even more your sense of humor
I’m limp with horror.
Like the top picture treatment very much. An inverted reflection?
Re Mrs Grouser, In general I walk too fast for her so she likes it when I’m snapping away as it slows me down :0
A wonderful play on words! Made me laugh.
When I run (figuratively speaking) from predators, I wonder what I’m “tucking”?
All right then, I am back since two days. You got the dates mixed up. But I don’t worry. The lizard in my shoe is still alive, nibbling on my toes. She is OK, yes it is a “she” – those are the survivors and don’t loose tails very easily.
Perhaps there will come a day
where tongues and tails
be not just commodity
but fun again.
Things one can learn….never new they can grow back! Great writing as always~!
LOL too good, I love it to come here is to learn to chuckle and blush with delight lol
If the tail has a mind of its own where does it go after it abandons the lizard? Is there a magic land somewhere where all the tails live in harmony?
For males … it’s a hard life .
For lizards … there by hangs a tale
A true account of the lizard’s tail … With humor! Thanks Sera!
aha! interesting information
Why not tuck tail and attack?
Well…. by that reckoning and Darwin’s theory, men lost part of their brain many centuries ago.
Nature said it was better to lose just a tail than lose your body to a predator and never to be able to tell another tale. If we were able to unravel the mystery of how those tails grow back again we could learn how to treat humans who lose limbs.
Best wishes
Ha ha…… I will not get drawn into the comments on men and their tails that I was thinking of making! Great post Sera, and I’m still laughing as I write. I love the tree shot also.
lonely for the pack, feeling like an ember away from the fire, wondering why do i grow cold when everybody else is blazing away? what is WRONG with me?
funny how i started talking about coco and finished talking about me… i knew you would know.. a feeling of loneliness has landed on my shoulders like a… turkey vulture!! waiting for me to die so it can feast on the sweet flesh of desolation… does my husband have to work tonight? och, what difference does it make?
I think a lot of us will be laughing a long time today about this one, Sera. Your creative mind never ceases to amaze me!!!
Ha ha ha haha ha
)))))) Well done Sera!!!!
TOO FUNNY!! Great to start my week of with a good laugh!! Love this…
I have seen for myself how those lizard tails will keep moving for quite a while after they have been torn off by my neighbors cat. Kind of amusing and sorta fascinating.
I think it’s amazing that a new one will grow back if they lose it, even if it’s not as big or as colorful. It’s better than not having one at all, I suppose.
I guess no matter what species, bigger is always better. I say it’s how it’s used that is most important.
LIzards are really fun!
All my kisses and Sera and you are right, the bank must have paid me for the free adds!
You are the best!
Very nice photograph, and very funny informations…
That’s why in ours times is so hard to be a man… I meant, a lizard !
Your page is a gift : witty one !
Interesting info, I had never knew that! I’m not a reptile specialist I guess. I wonder if they feel self-conscious without a tail…
Clearly, the tail is not as important as we are led to believe. It’s only purspose seems to be to allow the lizard to swagger.
You posted this while I was in lizard-infested territory. True story. Friend in Florida said when they had a cold snap several weeks ago, lizards and iguanas were falling out of the trees, dead! Rest assured, the lizards I saw were very much alive. Fast little suckers, too.