Yet another defense mechanism possessed by some octopi is the ability to perfrom an autotomy or self-amputation of one of their limbe and regrow it later many species of skink and lizard also possess this ability which allows them to shed their tails when caught by a predator and therefore get away when a predator catches a tentacle the octopus can amputate this tentacle thereby unfettering unfettering itself and regrow the tentacla later some octopi however are even cleverer when threatened by a predator these octopi will shed a tentacle before being attacked in the hope that the predator will go after the detached tentacle rather than octopus itself