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Definition of "autotomy" [autotomy]

  • The spontaneous casting off of a limb or other body part, such as the tail of certain lizards or the claw of a lobster, especially when the organism is injured or under attack. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "autotomy" in a sentence
  • "Overriding of the molt-inducing stimulus of multiple limb autotomy in the mud crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii by parasitization with a rhizocephalan."
  • "They are also odd among salamanders in that some species can drop the tail as a predator-defence mechanism (properly called caudal autotomy), and in that some species have only four toes on the hindfeet."
  • "Slow-worms are like many other squamates in being able to drop the tail voluntarily by contracting muscles (this is known as caudal autotomy), but they do this more than is usual, with most individuals having autotomised their tails several times."
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