The ecology and evolution of autotomy
Autotomy, the self-induced loss of a body part, occurs throughout Animalia. A lizard dropping its tail to escape predation is an iconic example, however, autotomy occurs in a diversity of other organisms. Octopuses can release their arms, crabs can drop their claws, and bugs can amputate their legs....
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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WILEY
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87421 |
| _version_ | 1848764915390611456 |
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| author | Emberts, Z. Escalante, I. Bateman, Bill |
| author_facet | Emberts, Z. Escalante, I. Bateman, Bill |
| author_sort | Emberts, Z. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Autotomy, the self-induced loss of a body part, occurs throughout Animalia. A lizard dropping its tail to escape predation is an iconic example, however, autotomy occurs in a diversity of other organisms. Octopuses can release their arms, crabs can drop their claws, and bugs can amputate their legs. The diversity of organisms that can autotomize body parts has led to a wealth of research and several taxonomically focused reviews. These reviews have played a crucial role in advancing our understanding of autotomy within their respective groups. However, because of their taxonomic focus, these reviews are constrained in their ability to enhance our understanding of autotomy. Here, we aim to synthesize research on the ecology and evolution of autotomy throughout Animalia, building a unified framework on which future studies can expand. We found that the ability to drop an appendage has evolved multiple times throughout Animalia and that once autotomy has evolved, selection appears to act on the removable appendage to increase the efficacy and/or efficiency of autotomy. This could explain why some autotomizable body parts are so elaborate (e.g. brightly coloured). We also show that there are multiple benefits, and variable costs, associated with autotomy. Given this variation, we generate an economic theory of autotomy (modified from the economic theory of escape) which makes predictions about when an individual should resort to autotomy. Finally, we show that the loss of an autotomizable appendage can have numerous consequences on population and community dynamics. By taking this broad taxonomic approach, we identified patterns of autotomy that transcend specific lineages and highlight clear directions for future research. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:26:56Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-87421 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:26:56Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | WILEY |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-874212022-01-28T03:49:40Z The ecology and evolution of autotomy Emberts, Z. Escalante, I. Bateman, Bill Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Biology Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics animals anti-predatory trait appendage loss autotomy phenotype interspecific comparisons limb loss predation prey regeneration tail loss POSTAUTOTOMY TAIL MOVEMENT REDUCES MATING SUCCESS IBERIAN ROCK-LIZARD LEG AUTOTOMY LIMB AUTOTOMY ANTIPREDATOR BEHAVIOR CAUDAL-AUTOTOMY CANCER-PAGURUS FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY LOCOMOTOR PERFORMANCE Autotomy, the self-induced loss of a body part, occurs throughout Animalia. A lizard dropping its tail to escape predation is an iconic example, however, autotomy occurs in a diversity of other organisms. Octopuses can release their arms, crabs can drop their claws, and bugs can amputate their legs. The diversity of organisms that can autotomize body parts has led to a wealth of research and several taxonomically focused reviews. These reviews have played a crucial role in advancing our understanding of autotomy within their respective groups. However, because of their taxonomic focus, these reviews are constrained in their ability to enhance our understanding of autotomy. Here, we aim to synthesize research on the ecology and evolution of autotomy throughout Animalia, building a unified framework on which future studies can expand. We found that the ability to drop an appendage has evolved multiple times throughout Animalia and that once autotomy has evolved, selection appears to act on the removable appendage to increase the efficacy and/or efficiency of autotomy. This could explain why some autotomizable body parts are so elaborate (e.g. brightly coloured). We also show that there are multiple benefits, and variable costs, associated with autotomy. Given this variation, we generate an economic theory of autotomy (modified from the economic theory of escape) which makes predictions about when an individual should resort to autotomy. Finally, we show that the loss of an autotomizable appendage can have numerous consequences on population and community dynamics. By taking this broad taxonomic approach, we identified patterns of autotomy that transcend specific lineages and highlight clear directions for future research. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87421 10.1111/brv.12539 English WILEY restricted |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Biology Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics animals anti-predatory trait appendage loss autotomy phenotype interspecific comparisons limb loss predation prey regeneration tail loss POSTAUTOTOMY TAIL MOVEMENT REDUCES MATING SUCCESS IBERIAN ROCK-LIZARD LEG AUTOTOMY LIMB AUTOTOMY ANTIPREDATOR BEHAVIOR CAUDAL-AUTOTOMY CANCER-PAGURUS FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY LOCOMOTOR PERFORMANCE Emberts, Z. Escalante, I. Bateman, Bill The ecology and evolution of autotomy |
| title | The ecology and evolution of autotomy |
| title_full | The ecology and evolution of autotomy |
| title_fullStr | The ecology and evolution of autotomy |
| title_full_unstemmed | The ecology and evolution of autotomy |
| title_short | The ecology and evolution of autotomy |
| title_sort | ecology and evolution of autotomy |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Biology Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics animals anti-predatory trait appendage loss autotomy phenotype interspecific comparisons limb loss predation prey regeneration tail loss POSTAUTOTOMY TAIL MOVEMENT REDUCES MATING SUCCESS IBERIAN ROCK-LIZARD LEG AUTOTOMY LIMB AUTOTOMY ANTIPREDATOR BEHAVIOR CAUDAL-AUTOTOMY CANCER-PAGURUS FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY LOCOMOTOR PERFORMANCE |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87421 |