Move over lizards, there’s a new animal that can regenerate a lost tail in town.
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00:00Turns out tiny lizards aren't the only creatures that can regrow a lost tail.
00:08New research has found that young American alligators can also regenerate that limb.
00:12The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, indicate alligators can regrow a
00:16tail up to three quarters of a foot.
00:18That's up to 18% of their total body length, which is a lot considering they can reach
00:23up to 14 feet long.
00:24The team from Arizona State University and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
00:29used advanced imaging techniques, and they found that the new tails were complex structures
00:33with a central skeleton made of cartilage, which was surrounded by connective tissue
00:37intertwined with blood vessels and nerves.
00:39But researchers were surprised to find scar-like connective tissue instead of skeletal muscle
00:43in the regrown tail.
00:45This is different from tiny lizards, which usually regrow their limbs with that muscle.
00:49The team believes being able to regrow their tails gives alligators an advantage in their
00:53murky habitat.