You've probably heard that lizards can lose their tail to escape from
predators. Turns out, losing one's appendage is also a tactic employed
by the deep sea squid
Octopoteuthis deletron. Except that it's
not just for a defensive measure:
The obvious interpretation is that the squid jettisons its body
parts to confuse and distract a predator. But it can also use this ability
offensively. When [scientists Stephanie Bush] threatened the animals
with a bottle brush, several of them attacked it. Five of them broke
off their arms while they were grabbing the brush. The arms flashed
away while continuing to hold their grip, while the squids jetted off.
It’s called “attack autotomy”. I imagine it would
be quite off-putting if you were a fish or a bottle brush.
Read more and watch the video clip over at Ed Yong's Not Exactly Rocket
Science blog:
here
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