# Double Trouble



## Stuart (Nov 23, 2012)

Found this little guy today when we were cleaning up some equipment in the field. To be honest I have never seen anything like it and the possibility of it happening has never even crossed my mind but it was interesting from a reptile enthusiests perspective (Not so much my colleagues who call me weird anyway).

Im sure some others may have seen this before, but what could cause it? Is it a mutation of the tail regrowing or just an unfortunate accident where the new tail got damaged? Possiblky I should act my age, shrug and act nonchalant about the whole thing, but its just one of those things that you dont see everyday and its pretty interesting (IMO)


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## Dragonwolf (Nov 23, 2012)

Not sure if it's relevant but last summer I had Asian House Geckos here with 3 tails. I'm quessing my cats are almost succeeding in catching these ones and maybe splitting the regrowing tail.


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## Tablemanners (Nov 23, 2012)

Don't know, never seen it. Looks awesome though, wish I could add something like that to my collection


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## phatty (Nov 23, 2012)

weird little fella i might have to experiment on the Asian house gecko :twisted:
just kidding


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## caleb96 (Nov 23, 2012)

I have seen it before on a little garden skink i was surprised like wow it is growing two tails haha but have no clue what would cause it


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## sharky (Nov 23, 2012)

That's cool


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## saintanger (Nov 23, 2012)

thats weird, never seen anything like that.

- - - Updated - - -

thats weird, never seen anything like that.


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## Rach85 (Nov 24, 2012)

Wonder if its when the tail gets damaged, and a new tail starts growing out of the wound? like it would if itd been dropped off completely?


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## Bluetongue1 (Nov 24, 2012)

I wouldn’t say it was common but it is not rare either. Skinks, geckoes and pygopods have the ability, to varying degrees, to regrow lost portions of their tail. The regrown part is never quite the same as the original. I suspect that if the break is clean and no other tissue damage occurs, then the regrowth is most likely to be single. However, if tissue damage occurs at the break, then I reckon there is the possibility of more than one region of regrowth, resulting in multiple tails. Just my hypothesis there. 

With the lizard you have photographed, I would say the top section is the original tail and where the other tail is coming from represents a partial dismemberment (localised damage) at some time in the past. 

There is a photo I commonly come across from time to time of a lizard with 5 regrowths of the tail. I cannot remember what or where it is - sorry. If you Google lizards with multiple tails there are a few pics first up that are worth a look. Don’t waste your time going past the first screen. 

I love the excitement of discovering these things for the first time for yourself. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Mike


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## Stuart (Nov 24, 2012)

Thanks all. Showed a couple more folks last night and one of them (who avoids my place like the plague) asked me why, as an adult, I found it so fascinating. All I could reply was, "Why not?" In my opinion it's pretty much a miracle in nature that a little critter can regrow a lost limb.

Silly I know, but I wish I could have kept him (and to the forum & Internet police, I didn't, he was released under the same bit of equipment once we sorted it)


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## Bluetongue1 (Nov 24, 2012)

Regeneration is not at all uncommon in invertebrates. With starfish, for example, so long as it has all of the central section attached to one arm, it can regenerate the rest of it. So if you were careful about how you cut up a five arm starfish, you could generate five animals from one.

In the vertebrates, Axolotls are able to regenerate lost limbs. This process has been extensively studied and has lead to some breakthroughs with culturing specific cells for grafting onto damaged tissues. 

It is quite remarkable when you think about it. Vertebrates consist of a myriad of highly differentiated cells. In order for regeneration, undifferentiated cells have to be available and then have to divide and differentiate to become the complex tissue structure that is the replacement of that which was lost. Pretty awesome in any body’s book!

Blue


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## CaptainRatbag (Nov 24, 2012)

Well done sniper.... evidently, when a lizard grows 2 tails like that, they are extremely poisonous.... and if you touch them, you only have 24 hours to live :shock:


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## zaphyrr (Nov 24, 2012)

When I was a child gallivanting around the garden I would occasionally come across a garden skink with a 'double tail' - in fact, I think I kept one as a pet for a while and named it Tails (from Sonic the Hedgehog). I'm of the opinion that a second tail grows when the original one is incompletely dropped. If the original tail still maintains a blood supply then I imagine it survives just fine, despite signals telling the lizards body the tail has been dropped.

My guess anyway!


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## Stuart (Jan 7, 2014)

Dragonwolf said:


> Not sure if it's relevant but last summer I had Asian House Geckos here with 3 tails. I'm quessing my cats are almost succeeding in catching these ones and maybe splitting the regrowing tail.



Looks like it made its way all the way to my place @Dragonwolf....

Dubbed him Tripod


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## Djbowker (Jan 7, 2014)

This guy here had three tails going.


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## Dragonwolf (Jan 8, 2014)

SniperCap said:


> Looks like it made its way all the way to my place @Dragonwolf....
> 
> Dubbed him Tripod
> 
> ...


LMAO... must be him, I haven't seen him this season.


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