How are octopi, salamanders, etc. able to regrow limbs, and why can’t all animals do it?
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The exact mechanism that allow animals to regrow parts of their bodies are something scientist study to figure out how to help humans. It seems very complicated and not immediately transferable, but it might give us clues as to how to help people.
The reason why humans and other similar animals can’t regrow limbs when animals like Lizards can usually comes down to evolution and costs and benefits.
Keeping or evolving such a trait if it was easily done, would be more of a cost on the average individual than a benefit (especially if the individual is highly likely to die anyway after an injury like that).
Unrelated fun fact:
The plural of octopus is not octopi. Most of the words that end in -us and have an -i plural are from Latin. Octopus is Greek and Greek grammar is different. The correct Greek-derived plural is octopodes. The normal English-based plural of octopuses is the least wrong plural though.
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