New Tails on Gators

[Recusant]

There was a discussion board for the "Why Won't God Heal Amputees?" website, and years ago several members of this site were also members there. The forum seems to have been consigned to the bin, though the main site still exists. This story brought that site to mind, being somewhat corollary--the god in question apparently will allow alligators to regrow a tail, but his beloved children aren't allowed the same luxury.

In the godless universe, this is an intriguing path of inquiry, I'd think. Though I've spent some time visiting Florida, I never saw a stumpy-tailed alligator, and I wonder if Icarus has. It seems though that only young alligators regrow their tails, and not a full replacement, but a sort of biological bodge job.

"Alligators Are Now the Largest Species Known to Regrow Severed Limbs" | Smithsonian

Small reptiles, like lizards, geckos and iguanas, are famous for being able to sprout new limbs if they lose a body part, like a leg or a tail. The regenerated limb usually isn't exactly the same as the original, but it's enough to give the critter a new leg up on survival.

Despite also being reptiles, little was known about whether or not alligators could regenerate their thick, massive tails. Gators can reach 15 feet in length and weigh up to 1,000 pounds, so regrowing a tail is no small feat. But in a surprising new discovery, scientists found that young American alligators can regrow their tails up to nine inches, or around 18 percent of their body length, reports Marika Gerken for CNN.

Kenro Kusumi, a biologist at Arizona State University, received a package that contained only a small, deformed alligator tail preserved in a pickle jar. The tail's tip was pronged and the scales were smaller than usual, reports Annie Roth for National Geographic.

Further analysis revealed that the tail had grown back after it was severed. Using high-tech imaging techniques and traditional dissection, the researchers found that the gators' tails regrew cartilage, connective tissue and skin instead of bone and skeletal muscle, reports CNN. The findings revealed that American alligators have more regenerative abilities that mammals, which mostly regrow nerves, skin and blood vessels, but less than lizards, which can sprout entirely, nearly perfect tails with skeletal muscle, reports National Geographic. Kusumi and his team analyzed three more tails from juvenile alligators and found further evidence that the tails could regenerate. Their findings were published in November in the journal Scientific Reports.

[Continues . . .]

At the original article on the Smithsonian site, the title Scientific Reports underlined above is a link with a Smithsonian token that will take you to the original paper.

[No one]

What more proof of the Lizardman run Illuminati do you need? Obviously, humans are 4th class inhabitants of this universe.

[Randy]

What more proof of the Lizardman run Illuminati do you need? Obviously, humans are 4th class inhabitants of this universe.

Fourth class? You give our species far too much credit.

[Recusant]

What more proof of the Lizardman run Illuminati do you need? Obviously, humans are 4th class inhabitants of this universe.

Fourth class? You give our species far too much credit.

As far as the ecosystem is concerned we've managed to be somewhat of a blight, it's true.

On the other hand, who's to say that the reptilioids do not have the ability to regrow limbs? I mean, why wouldn't they? If they're capable of looking just like Homo sapiens they should find it a simple matter to insert the proper gene sequence and activate it.

[Randy]

What more proof of the Lizardman run Illuminati do you need? Obviously, humans are 4th class inhabitants of this universe.

Fourth class? You give our species far too much credit.

As far as the ecosystem is concerned we've managed to be somewhat of a blight, it's true.

On the other hand, who's to say that the reptilioids do not have the ability to regrow limbs? I mean, why wouldn't they? If they're capable of looking just like Homo sapiens they should find it a simple matter to insert the proper gene sequence and activate it.

You make a good point. That's something that would be good for a sci-fi show. Of course the limbs would have to grow back extra fast to be effective for the movie.


Edited to repair quote. - R

[Icarus]

I have never observed an alligator that had a stubby tail or other missing part.  Not to say that they have no ability to regrow body parts.  Sure enough I have seen lots of gators.  I dislike them immensely but have never tried to harm one of them. 

My city has a small lake in the center of town. It is Lake Mirror.  A long time ago there was a large pipe extending toward the middle of the lake. It was part of a cooling system for the tiny electric generating plant that was nearby. Every day an alligator about eight feet long would climb onto the top of the pipe to sun himself.  He was such a regular fixture that he was given a name.  It was Blinky.  It seems that one of his eyes had been damaged.  His eye never repaired itself for the 10 years or so that he graced the lake.