Vocabulary: » Term: » Records: » ID: 913

Click image to see larger image	Gecko
Location	http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Phelsuma_Antanosy_Andasibe_Madagascar.jpg
Observations	A colorful gecko on a mottled leaf. Its tail is a different color than the rest of its body.
Explanations	Animals such as some geckos, lizards, and salamanders can shed their tails to escape a predatory attack. This process is called autotomy. The missing tail eventually grows back.
California Standards	Organism survival responses Adaptation or extinction
National Standards	Organisms interact with their environments Survival and extinction
Related NSF Exemplary Curriculum	Animal studies
Related Sets	More on animal defenses
Creative Commons License	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 License.
Authors	Jialiang Gao None None
Publisher	None Nov 11 2007

This material is based upon work that was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0127164 to California State University Fullerton. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.