If you asked a starfish (aka: sea star) to pick “heads or tails”, and they could understand what you were talking about, they would pick heads every time. In fact, researchers recently discovered that starfish are simply heads without a body:
It gets better…starfish do not even have a brain or blood, and they eject their stomach out of their mouth to eat. Terrible table manners.
Aside from these extreme characteristics, starfish have also captured the attention of scientists for their ability to regenerate tissues. In fact, when they lose an “arm” they can just create a new one. But can we really keep calling them “arms”? Maybe we should call them…spikes?
Perhaps its best if we do not tell Patrick Star the news. He always seems so happy. I would hate to ruin his day.
Categories: Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Livestock, Extreme Animals, Illnesses and Injuries, Intelligence and Neuroscience, Nature's Solutions, Ocean Life
Tags: anatomy, regeneration, seastar, starfish
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 
