An anole will shed its tail to escape a predator. The twitching limb serves as a distraction for the lizard’s escape. A new tail will grow back, though not as long or as colorful as the original.

Both brown anoles and curly-tailed lizards frequent the forest floor—and with a squad of hungry predators on the loose, it seemed likely a good portion of the brown anoles would meet their demise.

The researchers used high-speed videography to dissect the motion of two common lizards – the flat-tailed house gecko and green anole – as they fall, starting upside down.

behind only the seemingly ubiquitous brown anole,” Wild South Florida’s website says. University of Miami biology professor and researcher estimates that the curly-tailed lizard, like this one ...