• Question: how do some animals get new limbs

    Asked by to Edward, Ian, Mathew, Naomi, sakshisharda on 20 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Naomi Osborne

      Naomi Osborne answered on 20 Jun 2014:

      Invertebrates likes newts grow new limbs from special cells, which are like stem cells. Stem cells are general cells that can change into specialised cells such as nerve or muscle cells.

      Although mammals can grow new cells, like those in the liver, they can’t grow whole limbs, probably because they are much more complex than those of newts and other animals that regenerate body parts.

      Humans can re-grow fingertips though, as long as there a certain amount of nail left – that’s some pretty awesome biology!

    • Photo: Sakshi Sharda

      Sakshi Sharda answered on 20 Jun 2014:

      Hi aishurulz123

      Did you know that the same way, animals get new limbs, some like the lizards can also regenerate their tails! This process that helps to grow back organs is called regeneration and is very useful to some animals as many of them lose limbs or tails during fights among themselves.

      There is an animal called hydra that can regenerate it’s entire self even when it’s cut into small pieces! cool isn’t it!! 🙂

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