Obscure Species Club: Obscure Magic

Written By

A four panel comic. In the first panel, a tipton kangaroo rat in a top hat stands next to a sign that says, tippy trixys obscure magic. she says to a group of critters, and for my next trick. In panel 2, she stands behind a california legless lizard with a top hat in a magic box with his head and tail coming out each end. trixy says, I will saw my assistant bob, the california legless lizard, in half. comments in the audience include, oooo, and, she already cut his legs off? In panel 3, she chops through the lizard in the box with a saw. there is a note that says, dont try this at home, friends! in the audience, a flower gasps and someone says, she really did it! In panel four, the legless lizard is outside the box, alive and smiling, and his tail is wiggling next to him. the kangaroo rat says, dont worry folks, he is fine! the rest of the panel reads, like other lizards, california legless lizards can drop their tails and grow them back. the dropped tails will often wiggle to distract predators. while the original tail contains bone, the regenerated tail is made of cartilage. Please dont do this to lizards in real life! The end.
Image Details

Let us introduce you to caudal autotomy aka tail shedding! That’s right folks, some lizard species, like California legless lizards, will detach a portion of their tail in a last-ditch effort to avoid predation. The dropped tail will then wiggle because of active nerves causing muscle contractions, serving as a distraction to predators for the lizard prey to make an escape. Tails then regenerate overtime.

Story Tags

Adaptation

Written By

Published

Facilities

Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office

Related Stories

Latest Stories