i've got a question...

[Rou]

My friend just asked me "what animals are able to regenerate parts of their body?" I told him anything that drops its tail can regenerate it to some extent and things like starfish and arachnids can in a word 'replace' legs etc but to be honest its not something I have ever thought much about.

[sean k]

axolotls can regenerate near enough all their body parts, if a limb gets torn off in about 2 months you would not notice the difference. a long time back when i first started up keeping amphibians i had one axolotl attack the other one and it had all its tail ripped off, all of its limbs apart from one and 2 gills ripped off and it made a great recovery. and you would not have noticed anything had happened to him. its quite amazing how they can do these things.

have a look at this
Salamanders Don?t Regrow Limbs From Scratch / Science News

[HadesDragons]

Have a look at this - it gives a brief outline of which vertebrates can do what:

How do chameleons regenerate lost body parts?: Scientific American


Edit: This one's quite interesting as well - it's brief but outlines a compund which may be able to allow human cells to perform a similar role:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/5021.php

[excession]

Cresties are unable to regrow their tails.

[Rou]

Thanks everyone.
It is really interesting but something I never even really put much thought into it.

[grannykins]

Spiders and sticks can 'regrow' legs when they moult.

[helen_s]

i think leos can re grow there tails

[Rou]

Yes Leopard geckos definately can however the condition and appearance of the tail may not be quite what it was before.