In the name of survival, starfish sever their own body parts to escape predators. They will also eventually regenerate those lost limbs, but how this biological process works has remained a mystery.

Imagine waking up to find your entire body gone — no torso, no limbs — just a head that has expanded, split into five ...

Photograph of a specimen of the common European starfish Asterias rubens with a regenerating arm. Starfish shed arms (autotomy) when attacked by predators and then regenerate a new arm to replace the ...