The head and body of the Elysia. marginata a day after the decapitation. The slug's body is over 80 percent of its total weight (Credit: Sayaka Mitoh)
Regeneration, or the ability to regrow body parts, is a fairly widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom. However, the skill is usually restricted to growing a new tail or a new limb. Now researchers have found two species of sacoglossan sea slugs —
Elysia atroviridis and
marginata — that deliberately detach their heads from their original bodies and grow brand new bodies!
Biologists Sayaka Mitoh and Yoichi Yusa from Nara Women’s University in Japan, stumbled upon the slugs' talent while observing the creatures in their laboratory. "One day, I found an individual of