What animal looses its tail when threatened?

Lizards can regenerate their tails. The process is called caudal autotomy, or self-amputation. They will drop their tails to escape their predators. Sometimes lizards will return to their tail to eat to gain energy, recoup, or get back the nutrients in their tail, which is a primary storage organ for the lizard. The purpose of self-amputation is generally self-defense. When a gecko is threatened, it drops it’s tail and wiggles it and twitches for a while to create the illusion of it struggling, which distracts the predator.

The gecko has a specially designed connective tissue in the tail that forms a weak spot where the tail breaks off readily. The blood vessels in the tail constrict, so there is very little blood loss. The gecko will grow a new tail within a period of a few weeks. The regenerated tail is a different color and texture.

Self-amputation, or autotomy, is a self-defense mechanism were an animal is able to discard one of its own appendages to avoid the grasp of a predator or to distract long enough so they are able to escape. Some species of animals, such as geckos are even able to regrow the body part that they removed. Many breeds of lizards are able to perform autotomy when captured.

Lizards are commonly caught by their tail, so when caught, they will remove their tail in order to escape the grip of their predator. The detached tail will also wiggle, creating a distraction to the predator and allowing the lizard to flee.