Autotomy

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  autotomy \autotomy\ n.
     1. spontaneous removal or casting off of a body part (as the
        tail of a lizard or claw or a lobster) especially when the
        organism is injured or under attack.
        [WordNet 1.5]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  autotomy
       n : spontaneous removal or casting off of a body part (as the
           tail of a lizard or claw or a lobster) especially when
           the organism is injured or under attack