The Skink’s Tail-Shedding Magic
When a predator grabs a skink, it often ends up with just a twitching tail. That’s because skinks can detach their tails on command, a trick called autotomy. The tail keeps moving for several minutes, distracting the attacker while the skink escapes.
The skink eventually regrows the tail, though it’s not quite the same. This trade-off between short-term loss and long-term survival is worth it. It’s nature’s version of ejecting a decoy flare—simple, effective, and utterly genius.
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