Philosopher. Mama. Not necessarily in that order.
Owen's research program fell into disfavour in the late 19th Century because he never got along very well with Darwinism. I still find his explanation for varying regenerative capacity fascinating though. He theorised that in higher life forms, the vital essence had become centralised in the nervous system, especially the brain, which is why higher forms can only reproduce if they're imbued with 'fecundating principle' A.K.A sperm. Simpler creatures have their life force spread out more evenly throughout th
The axolotl is a bit of a poster child for regeneration, because it regrows not only its tail but other limbs and even internal organs.Sea cucumbers get the prize for self-repairing not just comprehensively but rapidly, regrowing lost parts in as little as a w eek. Hydras outdo their mythological name sake, because a ny fragment larger than a few hundred epithelial cells that is isolated from the body has the ability to regenerate into a smaller version of the whole. They're also thought to be truly immort