Alligators Just Got Scarier

Imagine: you're starring in your own version of the alligator monster movie Crawl. A giant 'gator is about to attack your loving stage dad. You save him by hacking off the alligators tail, thinking your safe. How well can an alligator swim without it's tail. And then, the unthinkable happens: the alligator's tail grows back.

At least that's the personal daymare we all had when we learned that science recently discovered that alligators can grow their tails back. But it's not as terrifying as our worst fears. In fact, it's pretty cool.

Apparently, young alligators get one chance at a do-over. If they lose their tail when they're still young, it will grow back up to 9 inches to give them another shot at survival.

Another fun fact: Human beings have the same cell structure that allows alligators to grow large, complex limbs. And this new discovery suggests that, if alligators (which are much larger than small lizards who can famously grow back their own tails) can do it, we might figure out the trick one day.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons