Alligators Can Regrow Their Tails Just as Easy as Other Lizards

Move over lizards, there’s a new animal that can regenerate a lost tail in town.

Transcript

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.