What is "autotomy"

autotomy \autotomy\ n. 1. spontaneous removal or casting off of a body part (as the tail of a lizard or claw or a lobster) especially when the organism is injured or under attack.

n. (context chiefly zoology English) The spontaneous removal of a limb, tail etc, especially by some invertebrates as a self-defense mechanism.

n. spontaneous removal or casting off of a body part (as the tail of a lizard or claw or a lobster) especially when the organism is injured or under attack

Autotomy (from the Greek auto- "self-" and tome "severing") or self amputation is the behaviour whereby an animal sheds or discards one or more of its own appendages, usually as a self-defense mechanism to elude a predator's grasp or to distract the predator and thereby allow escape. The lost body part may be regenerated later.